Tai Tapu to Rakaia Gorge

After the nights sleep at Tai Tapu Golf Club, we drove on to Lincoln where we started to get into the Xmas spirit and bought some mince pies and a Christmas cake from an award winning bakery. These are now stored in the "not to be opened 'til Xmas" cupboard.

After another stop in Rolleston for fuel for us and Debussy we continued on to Weedons and played another 18 holes at the Weedons Country Club. Three rounds in 3 days were starting to take their toll by the end and we both felt like a lie down, so it was a couple of Ks down the road to the NZMCA camp ground where we had stayed prior to the Banks Peninsula soiree.

Today, Saturday, after doing some washing, water filling and waste dumping, we drove to Darfield, the town closest to the epicentre of the big quake. Trish noticed that the local butcher was selling West Coast whitebait for $20 per 250g and couldn't resist such a good deal. The same price we paid at Waikanae direct from the fisherman!
I asked the butcher if there had been much damage in Darfield and he pointed to the trays of free range eggs on his counter and said that he didn't lose 1 egg! However there was a lot of damage further out, especially close to the rivers.

Next stop Terrace Downs golf resort for a look see. We had a beer each and took in the view of the well manicured course which boasts 11 lakes and 70 bunkers. With green fees of $135 and carts at $50 we thought it a bit expensive. Trish did offer to caddy for me and we could treat it as my Xmas present. Checking out the fees in the ProShop, we were told that there are often good deals via the net. Sure enough we've booked to play on Monday for $30 each!!

View from Debussy

We are now camped at the Rakaia Gorge camp site with a great view of the river and I'm just filling in time while Trish is slaving over a hot stove!!
The steak's smelling goood -L