Merivale

We spent the night on a comfy air mattress in Luke & Nay's cosy lounge room last night. We woke to the hustling and bustling of Lukey in the kitchen, whipping up his famous baked beans (famous?). I got up and started brewing a bit of coffee as slowly, one by one everyone else walked bleary eyed into he kitchen. Jo shocked us all by showing face in the kitchen quite early before we realised she was just passing through to get back to her bed from the bathroom! 😂

But soon the smell of Luke's beans and the rest of his yummy breakfast lured her back in. We feasted on a delicious gourmet brekky before getting ready for the day. Firstly we had to sort out another set of wheels. We hired a rental car online before Luke dropped us to pick it up. We had a great chat to the car rental ladies before setting off to pick up the girls.

We loaded the girls and Hudson into the cars and we were off on the road once again. We were aiming for the amazing Hanmer Springs. About 1.5 hours later we arrived in the beautiful old town at the base of the mountain ranges, just North-West of Christchurch. Luke and Nay were dying to take us on a a pretty big hike, but Luke, previously reading about the events which took place at the Fox Glacier, decided against it. It was in the best interest of us all. 😂

We did however tackle a substantial hill climb when we arrived in Hanmer Springs. We set off up Conical Hill, an amazing track that wound up the mountain through incredible pine forests. Luke managed to steal the good camera off James to try re-ignite his old photography skills, much to James' dismay he had to go without taking a photo for some time while we climbed. We managed the trek with ease and the view at the top paid of. We could see all over Hanmer Springs and then back over toward the snow capped ranges behind us. We never grow tired of these incredible views here!

After several attempts at a group photo it was back down to town to explore and find coffee. Unfortunately due to a bit of a late start to the day we were racing the sun and had to head back to Christchurch. We would have spent much more time in Hanmer Springs if we had the time but perhaps next time.

We made it back to Christchurch and relaxing for a bit before heading out to dinner just down he road. Luke & Nay had booked a table at an amazing Italian restaurant just new there house. We walked in and instantly felt like we were in another country. The hustle and bustle of happy diners greeted us as well as a large Italian man who threw his hands in the air in greeting "Ciao Bella!" We were directed to our table and continued to be entertained but this character of a man. Hudson seemed to attract bit of attention from waiters and diners alike, making us the centre of attention int he restaurant.😂 We ordered some incredible authentic food and James & Jess reminisced to the days they visited Italy. Our Italian stallion friend was never faraway with a new cheeky comment about how the ladies loved his thick accent, much to the girls delight!

We spent the night feasting on delicious food and wine, catching up, and enjoying the odd but hilarious interruptions from our larger than life friend. With full bellies and content hearts we walked back to the house to relax in front of the warm fire and sip on cups of tea before bed.

Tomorrow our personal tour guides are taking us to some farmers markets and showing us around Akoroa, but for now it's time to sleep away this Italian food.

Asher
(More photos to come)Read more