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NZ Adventure

July 2018
Four friends & a baby taking on NZ's winter as we tour the beautiful South Island, following the noses of our homes on wheels as we behold everything this beautiful place has to offer. Stay posted for epic scenery & crazy adventure activities.
A&J Read more
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  • NZ Adventure
    Day 1

    Let the adventure begin

    July 1, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    We are going on an adventure!!!!

    It all started at 3am when the alarms went off, we reluctantly jumped out of bed excited for our adventure. Pitch black and freezing cold we finished packing our bags, squishing every last thing into them all ready and off we went to join James, Jess and Baby Hudson. We cruised down the M1 with Jesse at the helm (thanks Jesse) and a couple of hours and a speeding fine later we arrived at chilly Sydney international airport. The adventure had well and truly begun. We had some much needed coffee and food before boarding our Emirates A380 flight.
    We’re ready for a quick flight across the ditch (or ‘detch’) to the snow capped mountains of New Zealand’s South Island.

    Bring on the adventure, catchups with Luke & Nay Carroll, and maybe a mid morning nap because these eyes are closing on their own!

    ♥️ Jo    Read more

  • NZ Adventure
    Day 1

    We made it!

    July 1, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    We are finally at our campsite for the night, we have been awake now for 20 hours and feeling very disheveled.

    Our flight went smoothly, baby Hudson didn’t even make a peep. Emirates was a grand experience, we didn’t get to make the most of the services in the short 3 hour flight, but enjoyable none the less. We were in suspense as we waited for our bags, feeding our hungry tummies and making sure we were rugged up enough to take on the NZ weather. However, we walked out to a beautiful sunny day which felt warmer than Cooranbong. NZ pulled out the beautiful weather to greet us, much colder now.

    The Wilderness shuttle picked us up and took us to our van hire place, where we were only stuck for 3 hours before we finally drove away with our two giant mobile homes ready to see the sites. Asher and James braved the enormous homes on wheels and did a great job...no incidents yet, although we have zero excess, so what’s a few scratches here and there. Care free 😁

    First stop...Woolies, or what they call ‘Countdown’ with the Woolies branding. After we stocked our vans with goodies it was off to visit Luke and Nay. It was wonderful to hear their voices, give them big hugs and see where their new home was. We walked down to a local dinner spot which was delicious! Thanks so much guys for looking after us and feeding us. Perhaps the highlight was James’ ‘vegan’ meal, chicken parmigiana. 😂
    Little Hudson met Luke and Nay for the first time, and I think they were a little clucky.

    After an hours drive we have arrived at our first camping spot, all unpacked and eager to see what greets us in the daylight tomorrow.

    ♥️ Jo    Read more

  • NZ Adventure
    Day 2

    Sleep-ins & Scenic bliss

    July 2, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 6 °C

    Sunrise not until 8am; cold and rainy outside ..... conditions were perfect for a cosy morning of dosing! The alarm clocks were turned off and we snoozed to the sounds of rain on the roof of our cosy little (or rather big) vans. We woke, after catching up on some much needed sleep, in the beautiful Rakaia Gorge, 1hr southwest of Christchurch. It was wet, rainy and cold, but that didn’t deter us from jumping out of bed for a quick breaky of croissants & coffee followed by some wandering of this incredible gorge.

    The incredible glacial water was so blue, yet crystal clear it ‘blue’ our minds. 😳 Surrounded by incredible pine forests and sheer cliffs, it was a perfect starting point for our scenic tour of NZ’s South Island. But with a late start to the day and the hours of daylight ticking by, we had to get on the road.

    So get on the road we did, and wow was it amazing. As we made our way from Rakaia Gorge down to Geraldine and then on to Lake Tekapo, every bend in the road brought an audible ‘wow’ to our mouths. We drove through valleys of rolling green hills covered in white sheep, which slowly turned into huge mountain ranges covered in white snow. It was spectacular! Like nothing we’d really seen before. We couldn’t help but be utterly amazed at the scenery.

    With a quick and delicious lunch stop and restock of groceries in Geraldine, it wasn’t long before we arrived at Lake Tekapo. But unfortunately our hopes of finding a lakeside freecamp at Tekapo were dashed as we were confronted with our worst fear on this trip.... No Camping signs.
    So with the sun disappearing behind the ever darkening mountain ranges and the temperature plummeting, we frantically consulted our mapps (map apps). It wasn’t long before we found a beautiful spot, at the southern end of Lake Alexandrina. A smaller but equally as beautiful lake, 15 minutes away, along a winding dirt track. Our Wilderness motorhomes held up beautiful and we arrived with minutes of daylight to spare. Just enough time for Jo to capture the shot of the day with snow capped mountains reflecting off the perfectly still lake.

    Lake Alexandrina in itself is an incredible place. Situated in the middle of the Mackenzie plains, it’s considered an oasis of life well known for it’s rainbow trout and salmon. In 1881, 10,000 trout were brought to the lake and when they were fully grown, the fishing commenced. Motorboats and Sailboats are prohibited on this spring fed lake, so row boats are the only way to really get your catch. To this day small clusters of fishing huts are located at each end of the lake and many small row boats litter the shore line. Perhaps we could manage to score some dinner for tomorrow night, who knows?

    So with darkness finally upon us it was time for a feed, readings, Hudson cuddles, and bed. Thanks James & Jess for cooking up a storm and having us over.

    Seriously excited for tomorrow’s adventures.

    Asher ☺️    Read more

  • NZ Adventure
    Day 3

    1 Day, 2 Vans, 3 Lakes

    July 3, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 5 °C

    Today started at 5:30am for us with a chilly couples trip to the pit toilets, cause lets be honest, we were both scared of axe murderers. But with the temperature at -3 and a full moon lighting up the campsite, our 5:30am bathroom trip turned into a 5:30am icy puddle jumpy frenzy as Jo put her new gumboots to the ultimate test. But the freezing conditions got the better of us and we clambered back into bed only to wake a few hours later to Lake Alexandrina putting on a real sunrise show for us. It was just us and one other person in this eery place, surrounded by fishing huts and row boats. But it also meant we had front row seats to one of the most beautiful sunrises we’d ever seen! A perfect way to start the day and with a couple of showers, coffees and warm croissants later, we were back on the road to the small town of Tekapo. Where we headed for 'The Church of the Good Shepherd'.
    This was a quaint old church situated at the southern end of Lake Tekapo. It is an extremely popular tourist destination but we got there just before opening time, which gained us access minutes before the bus loads of tourists arrived. We only managed to get a few snaps before we were over run by the larger groups of tourists. Apparently in the busier seasons they can get up to 4000 people there a day! Crazy!

    After a bit of exploring and plenty of James' "little people" photos (Photos taken from extremely far away), we began our search for more coffee and a 360 degree view over Lake Tekapo. We found the coffee (and some cheesecake) along with our 360 degree view at the summit of Mount John in the form of an incredible cafe/observatory. Mount John has an elevation of 1,030 meters and is the home of the Mount John University Observatory, and offers such incredible views over the glistening blue lake and snow covered mountain ranges. We marvelled at the enormity of everything around us and spent quite sometime up here.

    We then got back on the road and headed to a place called Twizel. Twizel is one of the main towns where we could buy groceries, refill our fresh water and best of all, dump our 'waste'. Dumping the waste proved to be quite simple yet unique for all of us. For James and I it was a becoming a man moment apparently, and we liked to think the girls were watching on in admiration, but sadly I don't think thats possible in a situation like that. We found the 'dump station' and did our business, so to speak, before getting back on the road. We doubled back about 10 minutes to another lake called Lake Pukaki. Lake Pukaki had raving reviews for it's freedom camping so it was decided we'd stay there tonight. And that we did. We set up camp and were able to break out the camp chairs and BBQ just in time for a beautiful sunny BBQ lunch outside.

    It wasn't long before the cameras were back out and we began chasing the sunset across the lake. With a back drop of white capped mountains and crystal clear water, the sunset was absolutely incredible. But as the sun dropped, so did the temperature, and it wasn't long before we retired back to our little homes. It was butter chicken for dinner and this time we had James, Jess and little Hudson over. Then it was readings and a slide show of the days photography efforts before another couples bathroom trip and a slow climbed up our ladder into bed. The days have been short but still quite exhausting. Grateful for sunshine, waterproof boots and hand sanitiser after today.

    Tomorrow we're taking on New Zealand's largest mountain, Mount Cook. Bring on the adventure and the possible chance of coffee at the top.

    Asher ☺️    Read more

  • NZ Adventure
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    Day 4

    Mountains & Pushbike riders

    July 4, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 4 °C

    It was a brisk morning this morning, an easterly wind freezing me to the bone as I braved the chill for a bacon & egg breaky. Brekky was delish and it wasn't long before we said our goodbyes to the beautiful Lake Pukaki and headed back to Twizel for a warm coffee, passing 2 push bike riders heading the other way. The Temperature was -2 degrees, at 10am. Cold.

    Hudsy put us all to shame, winning the warmest dressed prize with his full body snowsuit. The rest of us, we froze. From Twizel we headed north again, this time taking the turn off for Mount Cook, once again passing our push bike friends heading in the same direction. A beautiful 40 minute drive up the opposite side of Lake Pukaki saw us to the Mount Cook Village. It was beautiful here, mounds of snow lining the road and towering, snow cover mountains all around us. We parked the vans and the kettle was on in an instant. Coffee, tea, and chocolate refuelled our cold bodies once again to brave the elements. We made a plan to hit up one of the many walking trails around the Mount Cook region. We stepped outside the warm vans, dressed to the nines in our huge jackets, only to be greeting by the beautiful warm sun. We can't keep up with the weather but man it's still delightful.

    We set out along a still icy track that lead to one of the lakes at the base of Mount Cook, Mueller Lake. Mueller Lake was previously a 13 km glacier, but today it's lake feeds down into Lake Pukaki through a beautiful blue river littered with large grey boulders, a picturesque suspension bridge spanning it's banks. It was truly the spectacle of the day. We thought we'd lost James at one point, calling out his name only for him to pop up from a bush he'd been crouching in, trying to "get the right angle". His techniques are paying off though cause he's getting some amazing shots of this place. We spent several hours here, taking photos amongst the incredible terrain, and simply just exploring and admiring this place. Perhaps to long as we left our 2.5hr planned drive down to Albert Town slighty too late.

    The drive south to Albert town took us through some amazing scenery. We headed back down the side of Lake Pukaki, once again passing our push bike riding buddies, who still had a long way to go until they reached Mount Cook (hopefully they made it!). We pit stopped at a small farming town called Omarama, refueled the vans and restocked the fridges before continuing South. We passed through Lindis Pass (not Linda's Pass), a beautiful country road sweeping between lush green mountains. Unfortunately the sun was almost gone at this point and we missed some pretty amazing opportunities, but none the less it was some stunning country side.

    We made it to our campsite in Albert Town in the dark, hopefully the morning will bring some more stunning scenery, but for now it was a delicious, late night roast dinner at the Lynches and a semi early night.

    Tomorrow is a catch-up morning and exploration of Wanaka.

    Asher ☺️    Read more

  • NZ Adventure
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    Day 5

    Over the Mountains

    July 5, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

    Today started with loud bangs on our motorhome door at 7:30am, Asher rushing to get off the bed, slipping and landing on the ladder (ouch), only to be greeted by the park ranger, not James or Jess in distress. We had paid to stay at our site by the lake, but in the dark we could not find the slip of paper to go on our dash to prove it. So early in the morning we were awoken to be questioned. Today was designated as sleep in and relax, so I was not happy to be woken so early. Still fighting to get rid of this flu, I spent the next couple of hours trying to get a bit more shut eye.

    It was late rise at 11:00am with toasted croissants with Jam, thanks Asher! We showered, packed the van and we were off to explore the little town of Wanaka. To much delight, it was my turn to drive, I was very excited to get behind the wheel of our, what feels like a bus, and if I say so, I think I did a pretty good job. Don't worry school, if you need a new bus driver, I'm ready!!

    Wanaka was beautiful, a quaint little town with a backdrop of a crystal clear blue lake and snow capped mountains. I am still in awe that people live with this as their day to day view, Morisset just doesn't deliver. We spent a bit of time walking around the cute little town, made the important stop at the bakery and the essential pharmacy stop for some cold and flu tablets then it was off the see 'the tree'.

    It's called the 'Lone Tree of Lake Wanaka'. It is a solitary tree that has grown in Lake Wanaka which is backdropped by the beautiful Southern Alps...however in winter, it's a tree that has no leaves and the water level is so low you can walk to it. I must say I was rather underwhelmed, I have no doubt it would be beautiful in Summer when the lake is high and the green leaves contrast the blue lake.

    After a few quick snaps of the tree, it was time to head to Queenstown. A lot of excitement to get to the main hub of the Island. We drove through the breathtaking Cardrona Valley. It was quiet an experience driving the van through the twists and turns up and down the mountainside. It's like nothing I have ever seen before. Driving through Queenstown really tested my driving skills. It's jammed packed with parked cars lining already narrow roads, so guiding the beast through the city, avoiding any kind of collision was a miracle. We decided to head for the local holiday park, which cost a bit of money for a powered site but it was worth it. Just a short walk down the hill and we were in the city centre of Queenstown but, more importantly, we were at the open doors of Fergburger!

    We beat the huge queue by about half an hour and invested in some extremely large burgers. While we waited for our delicious meal, we crossed the road and purchased our lift passes for tomorrows ski field adventures at Coronet Peak, and then returned just in time to be handed a grease wrapped bundle of goodness. Talk about efficiency!
    We walked our bag of delight a couple of streets down to the waters edge where we ate our burgers with the spectacular view. We took our time to stroll around the town, we might be heading out for a midnight snack, so many beautiful places, it would take weeks to truly explore the whole of Queenstown.

    Back up the hill to our caravan park we went, only after our stop at the bakery with our delicious desserts, what a treat. Asher, James and I were off to find a hire place for our ski equipment for tomorrows adventure. We will be heading up to Coronet Peak for a days skiing, it will be an early morning for us tomorrow, but it will be greeted with much excitement.

    Back to our caravan park for the night where we tucked into our bakery treats and played a game of Rummy, our first board game of the trip. We are looking forward to the unlimited warm showers tonight, no van shower for us. No complaints about the van facilities, but a warm, high pressure shower has been eagerly awaited.

    Early to bed tonight, looking forward to our skiing adventures tomorrow, it has been a while, so who knows the condition we will all be in tomorrow night. We are loving the van life so far, wonderful adventures and looking forward to many more. I am holding Mum close to my heart exploring the place she was born.

    ♥️ Jo    Read more

  • NZ Adventure
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    Day 5

    Queenstown

    July 5, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C

    Our first experience of Queenstown! Wondering the streets and Fergburger. ☺️

  • NZ Adventure
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    Day 6

    Coronet Peak and...we can no longer walk

    July 6, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 7 °C

    Today was an early rise at our extremely comfortable caravan park. The alarm went off at 6:30am and after a small snooze I lovingly shook Jo awake and it was adventure time. James joined us a few moments later and we hit the road, leaving Jess and Hudson to explore Queenstown. We were headed for Coronet Peak Ski Fields.

    We left early in order to beat any traffic heading up to Coronet Peak, about 25 minutes out of Queenstown. And beat the traffic we did! We braved the darkness before sunrise (8am), the sleet, and the icy winding road and made it to the slopes before everyone but 5 people. But as James went searching for coffee and Jo and I ate our breaky while we waited for the slopes to open, we kind of lost track of time. We completely misjudge how long it would take us to get all our layers and gear on, and some us completely forgot how difficult ski boots are to walk in up an icy hill. So it wasn't until well after 8am, following a coffee stop and planning meeting, we were on the Meadow Express chairlift heading for the beginner green runs to get our confidence back.

    We were greeted with incredible weather at the top of Coronet Peak, views of Queenstown and all the incredible surrounding mountains. It was such an incredible experience to be able to look out for miles around at the vastness of God's creation. New Zealand seems so small on a map but it's really absolutely huge, with such a variety of scenery. There was something about sliding down a mountain surrounded but such amazing things.

    So a few easy runs later we were completely exhausted...... and it'd only been 30 minutes, a true testimony to our supreme unfitness. We pushed on, hitting the various slopes and runs that Coronet Peak had to offer. It had been a while since any of us had been to the snow, so it didn't take long for our feet and legs to start wearing down. I was the first to take a tumble and continued on to win the most amount of crashes for the day. I simply put it down to the snowboard vs ski argument and how it's "impossible to stack on skis". But it wasn't long before James hit the ice, and soon after Jo too.

    We thoroughly enjoy our time at Coronet Peak. The slopes were a little steeper and unfamiliar to what we're used to back in Australia, but all in all it was a great time. We made sure we paced ourselves with plenty of rest stops but still to this moment our bodies are truly in a world of pain. We pushed to explore as much of the beautiful mountain we could, but soon heavy rain and terrible condition helped us make the call to get out fo there early and once again beat the traffic down the mountain.

    After returning our gear back tot he hire shop, Jess and Hudsy greeted us when we arrived back at the campsite. They were full of energy..... we were not. But none the less, we were keen to get down into town for some dinner. We did a big clean up of our vans (which included some dumping and pumping) and made full use of the holiday park's hot, well-pressured showers. Warm and fresh, we set out for a rainy walk down to Queenstown. Jess, who had been exploring for the day, was our personal tour guide to all the best restaurants and dining experiences. After a bit of wondering and looking at menus we settled for a traditional Irish pub. It was perfect! Open fireplace, mood lighting, dark timber everywhere, perfectly cooked steak, and vibrant Irish atmosphere was all we needed to fill our bellies and warm ourselves. We spent sometime here, eating and chatting before it ended up getting a little warm inside and we set out down the streets for some Mrs Ferg Ice-cream, a branch off of Fergburger. Ice-cream, a temp of 5 degrees and the cold rainy night mean't it was back up the hill and into the vans for the night.

    We decided to get a bit of laundry done so gathering our dirty clothes, towels, and a suspicious ziplock bag of laundry powder off Jess (don't know how she got that across the border), we set off in the rain once again to get the domestic duties checked off. Then it was back to the van and into bed for a movie night and perhaps a late night Fergbakery snack, who knows?

    We're loving it so much here we've extended our stay at the holiday park so we can cram in more of what Queenstown has to offer.

    Tomorrow we're recovering from today's activities and exploring some old historical towns around Queenstown. Nice and relaxing!

    Asher ☺️    Read more

  • NZ Adventure
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    Day 7

    Arrowtown Adventures, Landslides & Naps

    July 7, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 7 °C

    Today we slept in slightly, our legs feeling not too bad from the previous days snow adventures. James and I set out down he street on a coffee run. Some delicious coffee can be found across the road from Queenstown's Lakeview Holiday Park at a cosy little cafe called Bespoke Kitchen.

    On return it was a quick pack up and we were on the beautiful road to the historical town of Arrowtown, about 30 minutes out of Queenstown. Arrowtown is a historic gold mining town situated on the banks of the Arrow River, surrounded by steep, rocky mountains. Gold was first discovered in the Arrow river back in 1862 and soon a large population of 7,000 miners moved to the area. There are many well preserved buildings built by European and Chinese Immigrants when the Arrowtown gold mining was at it's peak. There was something very 'English' about the town with its stone walls, green grass, and old stone cottages everywhere. We browsed the many different antique and collectable stores before settling in for coffee and scones at a nice cafe.
    Jo and I paid a little visit to the tiny local library, Jo reminiscing to the days when her Mum would take her and her siblings to the local library back home when they were young kids and they'd borrow books and DVDs til their hearts content. Such amazing memories! ☺️

    After much wandering of this amazing little town, we decided to head back toward Queenstown, this time continuing through the town and heading toward a place called Glenorchy. The 50 minute drive to Glenorchy is very renowned for its stunning road alongside Lake Wakatipu (the main Queenstown lake). We were blown away by a constant view of the water, surrounded by green forests. We stopped briefly at the pristine Wilson bay and continued on our way. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before we were greeted with orange flashing lights and signs telling us to turn around. Due to persistent rain these last few days the road to Glenorchy had been damaged in a landslide and was closed. Sadly our little adventure out of town had come to an end.

    So we headed back to our delightful holiday park and settled in for the afternoon. Jo took full advantage of the extra time in the afternoon to catch up on some sleep (still trying to shake this flu) while James, Jess and Hudson set out for the Queenstown Gondola to the top of the Ben Lomond mountain, and I sort out a good coffee and an almond croissant.

    The Gondola riders returned, Jo woke up from her sleep and I dragged her into town for dinner. After much wandering of the streets we found a cosy place and tucked in to some delicious food. The food culture here is really great, you don't have to go far to find good food. We're pretty sure we've put on even more weight, it's just too good!

    We settled in for the night, ready for what ever tomorrow brings.

    Asher ☺️    Read more

  • NZ Adventure
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    Day 8

    Rainy day in Queenstown

    July 8, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 3 °C

    After not feeling too great yesterday and sleeping the afternoon away, Asher and I woke up and decided to spend another day in Queenstown to explore the city and ride the Gondola up the top of Ben Lomond mountain, we couldn't leave Queenstown without doing that, it just wouldn't be right. So we said farewell to James and Jess who went down south for the day to explore the sites and the beautiful scenery it offered.

    We set off for the Gondola but couldn't walk past the cafe without stopping for Asher's morning coffee. After the coffee and brekky was consumed, we went up the mountain and I was very excited to see the beautiful view from the top. We hopped on and it was a short ride to the top with the view getting better and better as we went up, there was some shocking sites as we headed up, Asher and I turned in horror as we heard shrill screams and saw a girl fling herself off the side of the cliff head first...can you believe people pay for this experience? I must admit, I did have the urge to do it myself. Bungy jumping and the giant swing are some of the more adventurous activities NZ has to offer. Maybe next time.

    The view from the top of the mountain was stunning, it was like nothing else, the beautiful blue lakes stretched out beneath the tall mountains and looking out of the city nestled in between. We enjoyed pointing our the landmarks from the top, the places we had walked, our Van and most astonishing, you could clearly make out the line at Fergburger, which still has a long line at every hour of the day. As we walked around the Mountain exploring the different look out spots, the rain had really set it. Walking around toasty warm in our jackets and scarves makes the rain a fun adventure.

    After our wanderings we decided to head back to our van for morning tea and some board games. We are really settling into the van life. On a rainy day like today we appreciated the cosy warm van more than ever. After some games and a nap we decided to hit the town and pass the rainy afternoon away with a movie followed by dinner.

    Before leaving Queenstown we needed to pump, dump and restock on water and gas, which took a little longer than we thought. Finally we were ready, bakery treats on board and we were off to meet Jess and James at our campsite for the night.

    But wait.... James called from a Maccas nearby. With no wifi or phone reception they couldn't find the campsite we had agreed on that morning, and being low on fuel they made the good decision to come back to Queenstown. Thank goodness for Maccas free wifi cause were just about to head in the opposite direction to meet them.

    So back to the holiday park in Queenstown for our last night before we start our journey back up to Christchurch tomorrow. We settled into our vans, heater on and bakery goods waiting, Jess and James joined us with their treats from the bakery and we had a lovely night catching up on our days and feeling very content with our current situation. Warm showers, toilets and power tonight, what a treat.

    We are due back in Christchurch at 2pm on Thursday afternoon to return our vans. We are looking forward to exploring the west coast as we make our way back up and stopping at some more lookouts, quaint towns, bakeries and enjoying the scenic drives.

    Looking forward to spending next weekend with Luke and Nay. xx

    Special happy birthday to Dad! Hope you're having a wonderful day where you are on your holiday! Love you xx

    ♥️ Jo    Read more

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