South Island — November 2022 – Part 5

 

 I’m finally getting around to writing up our 2022 South Island Holiday. Again, we went during the couple of weeks straddling November and December. Last year, we had a trip to the same part of the South Island at around same time of year. This time, John particularly wanted to spend a few days at Lake Ohau Lodge – to do some cycling, to just ‘hang out’ and take lots of photos, and to enjoy the Lodge’s delicious meals. And we also wanted to spend several days in Arrowtown, another one of our favourite places. 

This is quite a long story, so I have written it up in five parts:

Part 1: Wellington to Christchurch

Part 2: Christchurch to Arrowtown

Part 3: Arrowtown to Lake Ohau

Part 4: Two days at Lake Ohau

Part 5: Ohau to Oxford and home

 

Part 5 – Ohau to Oxford, and home

Sunday 4 December – Ohau to Oxford

We were up early, had breakfast, and finished packing. John had already loaded the bikes in the car the night before, and we left at about 9:20. We stopped briefly at the shore of Lake Pukaki to take some photos of the full glory of Mt Cook and its adjacent peaks.

Aoraki/Mt Cook (3724m) and its adjacent peaks

We stopped at Tekapo, as John wanted to put some charge into the car. While it was charging, we went in search of some coffee. I was pleased to see that the flash new YHA hostel, that found itself forced to close for lack of visitors this time last year, seemed to be up and running again.

The Dark Sky ‘museum’ was closed, as was its café (being Sunday!), so we walked to the main drag where the cafés are, and it was mayhem with so many tourists. John waited outside, while I queued up to order take-away coffees and a packet of cookies, which we took back to the terrace of the closed café at the museum, and enjoyed them in the part sun/shade, away from the crowds. 

Coffee with a sublime view

We stopped at Geraldine, to charge the car (again!) and lunch at Café Verde. The drive from Geraldine to Oxford, via the Inland Scenic route (SH 72) was very pleasant, mainly fairly straight roads, so easy driving. 

We had booked to stay overnight at “Ribblesdale”, a ‘significant’ garden with a B&B on site, near Oxford. We had a call from Denise, our host, to say she had to go out, but that the key was in the door, and that we could just make ourselves comfortable when we got there, and look around the garden if we wanted to.
As we got to Oxford, we had to invoke Siri (the kind lady on the phone!) to find “Ribblesdale”. We had to go round the block a couple of times before we found the entrance. 

It was absolutely delightful. ‘The Barn’ is huge for a B&B, it looks like it is used for community events or classes or some such (it appears that Denise runs garden tours). 

A map of Ribblesdale Gardens

The Barn

It has a large open space, with a dining table, and on the side a couch and single bed. There is beautiful bedroom with a king-size bed, and a kitchen and bathroom. There is also a commercial kitchen, which we thought initially was the kitchen for our use, but it was locked, until we found a kitchen alcove further around. 

The main part of the barn. Bedroom off to the left, kitchen and bathroom to the right

It was very warm, so we settled our stuff inside, and went to take look around the garden, which is magical. 

Silverbirches line the driveway

 

The main lawn

'Rust in peace' – is that a coffin on the dray?

"The Stumpery"

I don't know what plant this is, but it is gorgeous

After a while Denise’s husband Robin turned up and we chatted for a bit. He said they’d been working on the garden for the last 25 years. The place used to belong to Denise’s parents, but most of it was still a paddock when they took over. 

When Denise got back she showed us more, and also into her nursery, where she grows plants to sell. I selected two deep pink rhodohypoxis, and some hostas – one gold and a one grey – to take home.

Denise's nursery

John in the "Secret Garden" (DP)

 

Monday 5 December – Oxford and home

Before leaving, I went to find Denise, to pay for the plants, and we had another chat. I discovered the ‘Hosta Haven’, which I hadn’t noticed the previous day – an area with lots of varieties of hosta, all in drifts of the same variety – gorgeous. 

'Hosta Haven'

So many varieties of hosta – I love them!

We stopped at The Store, at Kekerengu for a late lunch, and a little wander down to the grassy area and beach below the café (I nearly keeled off the stairs!), and then on our way to Picton. 

The beach at Kekerengu

In Picton, ferry check-in time was 6:15, but it was only 4 pm. So after checking in at the office and being told to line up at 6:15, we went into the town. It is a desert after 4pm, cafés all closed, but we managed to get an icecream, and we walked through the street eating it.

Then we drove to the waterfront, there was a message on the info screen of the car, that the tire pressure was low. We couldn’t see anything wrong, and just assumed it was one of those things. A friend who has the same kind of car had something like that happen and it turned out to be a false alarm. John said he would check it out when we were queuing up to board.

We sat in the car, while I read, and John was highly amused by the antics of a whole lot of seagulls, which were plaguing a car where people were obviously eating fish and chips – they can smell it! The driver tried waving at them, and working the windscreen wipers, and opening and shutting the door, all to no effect. When they left, so did the seagulls. At least they did not bother us.

A car being plagued by a flock of seagulls

 

We went to line up at the Bluebridge terminal. There were not very many cars. We were among the last half dozen to be called to board. As we were driving up, we noticed that the car was ‘limping’ and yes, hey-ho, we did have a flat tire! Oh, rats! John pulled off to the side, and told the crew that we had a flat. 

There is no spare tire with this car. You just have to re-inflate the damaged tire by means of foam from a canister. But our canister was buried under all our stuff in the boot! The crew were very helpful. A guy in a van driving on, waved a canister out the window (apparently he was also part of the crew), and between John and some of the guys, they managed to get the thing working and re-inflating the tire enough to be able to drive on board. 

Dealing with a flat tire! (DP)

Obviously we were the last ones to board, and I think we held up the sailing for a bit, but nobody complained or was rude to us about it. Phew! 

The journey was smooth and I took some nice photos of the setting sun. 

Sunset over the Sounds

During the journey, John got me to ring the AA, to ask them to arrange for someone to meet us off the ferry, to check that the tire was safe to drive home. After a bit they rang back and said that their road assistance service finishes at 11 pm, but they would arrange for a tow-truck to meet us. The car would be put on a flat-bed and there would be room for two passengers. OK …

When we arrived, we went down to the car, the tire was still inflated, and John got out the bike pump, and pumped it up some more. It was a big effort for him, and I was a bit worried for him, as he was quite out of breath after that. The crew told us the tow-truck was waiting for us, and pointed us in the right direction.

The towie took a look at the tire, and thought it would probably be safe for us to drive home in the car, but he would follow us in the truck, just in case things went wrong. Fortunately they didn’t, and we arrived home safely, thanked the driver, and he was on his way.

We had been impressed with the helpful attitude of both the ferry crew and the tow-truck operator. And we were grateful.

So here’s the end of the holiday, but not the end of the story! 

The next day, John got up feeling feverish, so he took a Covid RAT (Rapid Antigen Test), and it was positive! Oh, bugger! I then tested myself, but was negative, and remained so until John was in the clear. 

We think he may have got it from one (or several, who knows) of our dinner companions at Ohau Lodge. What an end to a holiday. But I guess it was lucky he didn’t come down with it while we were away, or we would have had to stay put for a week’s isolation. 

The evidence – Positive!