On the road to new adventures……..just over the border in Southland

Well here we are on Hamilton Burn; a farm just over the border in Southland. This is a park over property so not available to the masses.

We packed up this morning after a last night at the Glenorchy Pub having had a slap-up dinner and a few drinks and chatting to the staff (mainly Irish). We cannot fault the pub’s hospitality. We advised them that we would stay an extra night but were concerned that if there was any change in the weather we might have ‘toilet’ issues

. As I explained to the young lady; when we get to our age and the instructions state that a toilet cassette can last last at least 3 days I advised that at our age we are lucky if it lasts 2-2 1/2 she provided the key to the backpackers so we could use it instead…………as I said; they went the extra mile for us!!

We left this morning but had an issue with the RV – this time the satellite (all issues we have experienced have been related to the extra work undertaken since the vehicle landed in New Zealand…..go figure!!!). As the satellite was continuously alarming we contacted Apollo Entertainment and they gave some advice so Rod could disable it and we could continue our adventures.

These Tuis are at the entrance to a private road…..

Success disabling the satellite and off we went!! We headed to Queenstown (just like being in Auckland except for the scenery)……..we went to BP for a WSS. We had difficulty finding it due to the rubbish truck but eventually completed our septic needs and purchased a swap-a-bottle we then had to go the Caltex LPG refill (only 1 x swap-a-bottle) and then headed for the PackNSave. Mrs Garmin thought we would like to take the scenic route which was frustrating to say the least but at last we made it!!

We stocked up and then headed to The Warehouse for extras and then we were on the road again. We had an issue when we were travelling along when a vehicle started using it’s hazard lights and brakes and had open their window  open and were tapping the roof which had us concerned as Rod had been up there fixing the satellite earlier; so we pulled over. We were on a clear road with no vehicles behind us and had pulled over as much as were able with hazard lights on and had just spent a few minutes checking the roof when we saw a truck coming so we quickly started up the engine. It was at that moment that two vehicles pulled out to pass the truck,  by this stage he had little space to pass so stamped down on his brakes which locked.

He slid onto the berm and was quickly joined by another trucker who was quite truculent asking what the hell………did we not see the vehicles behind. We pointed out that there had been no vehicles and we had been there several minutes and that he had not even spoken to the first truck driver but he was not listening. We left shortly after…………

We spent some time discussing the situation but felt that we had done everything we could do to safely pull over  and then decided to leave the situation where it was……..in the past.

We found our destination several kms later and were met by Macka who indicated where we were to drive to. I must point out that when I contacted him I asked how soggy the ground was where we would be parking and he said it was ok………….so imagine our surprise when we got stuck in the mud lol. Macka towed us to our spot and we will see whether we can extricate ourselves from our location tomorrow.

We have been cautious and contacted our next potential location (a DOC camp) to ensure that the conditions are going to be ok for our vehicle so watch this space!!!

Following our stressful day it was great that Rodney was able to repair our satellite dish and we are watching TV following a quick meal and for me a rum and black-current while Rod had a green ginger and rum.

We may be off the grid if there us no cell phone coverage so till next time (if we don’t post in three to five days; worry lol)……..