Woke up to clear skies and the ground NOT covered in snow...vaguely disappointed even though there hadn't been any snowfalls forecast for the night, but it was a relief to know that airports and roads would be operational! We had borrowed Andreas' 4x4 van as a precaution, and at 9.15 am we were all on our way - an exceptional effort from the Garnetts...Maddy was not happy at the early rising!! Around Ashburton we started seeing small patches of snow on the ground, and snow-covered cars heading out of Christchurch became a common sight the closer we got. It was truly amazing to see how much snow had fallen and how widely!! This is quite a novelty for us all. We were enormously grateful for the 4x4 when it came to parking, as roads had been scraped but there was a lot of ice on walkways and in car parks - one had to be really careful walking through it in regular shoes. We took a final shopping tour through DressSmart in Hornby (Pam had about 1/2 cm spare in her carry-on bag) then had lunch at the KFC across the road. We had found some excellent books for the boys, which kept them and Maddy busy for quite some time. And then, finally, the airport. We had arrived quite early so wandered around for a while, but when we couldn't find a place to sit we decided to say our goodbyes...and so, farewell dear friends!! It was wonderful to have you here, and we look forward to your proposed 2014 visit :)
Above - while waiting for Vijay's flight (delayed by an hour), we watched a fire truck spray water on the ice to break it up - these guys have had to work really hard to clear away the ice, and the melted snow before it freezes over. Snow is fun, but really inconvenient it seems!
So, onto the next thing...an hour's wait before Vijay Chandra's flight arrived from Auckland. He's out from Fiji for five weeks, spending a week or two on the South Island. He'll be staying with us for most of the time, but in order to get a room ready again, we needed a night off! Dropped him off with Shirley and Kurt for the night and left them discussing world politics and sauerkraut :)
Above - while waiting for Vijay's flight (delayed by an hour), we watched a fire truck spray water on the ice to break it up - these guys have had to work really hard to clear away the ice, and the melted snow before it freezes over. Snow is fun, but really inconvenient it seems!
So, onto the next thing...an hour's wait before Vijay Chandra's flight arrived from Auckland. He's out from Fiji for five weeks, spending a week or two on the South Island. He'll be staying with us for most of the time, but in order to get a room ready again, we needed a night off! Dropped him off with Shirley and Kurt for the night and left them discussing world politics and sauerkraut :)
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