Travelling over all those repairs on South Island roads just about shook our oven to pieces. Yes, we admit that we have experienced a broken screw or two on the North Island roads, but now the whole oven seemed ready to jump out of it’s space straight onto the floor. The extra shaking had also loosened the catch on the pantry door, and for the last couple of days we had been travelling with the pantry secured with a bungy cord. Something needed to be done, and fast, before we continued on our trip! Luckily, not too far away, was the RV Centre, and they were able to do some repairs the next day. So we hooked up the van and dropped it off at 8.00am, leaving it behind to get the remedial work done.
Then we took ourselves off to have some breakfast at the Robert Harris Café in Hornby. And found out the story behind the franchise. It all started in Hamilton, in 1952, Robert didn’t really like the coffee served in NZ cafes, and decided to do something about it, importing and roasting coffee beans. The rest, of course, is history, with the café franchises all over the country.
Robert (Bob) Harris and our breakfast
The cell phone rang to let us know that the repairs had been completed so we drove back to collect the van. The oven was taken right out, inspected, and repaired. Different screws have been used to fix the stove into the bench and hopefully this will stop the screws popping out/breaking and falling onto the floor, where we used to find them. As for the problem with the pantry, it seems that it was not made to carry cans of food. We were not advised this fact, so have been “carrying on regardless”. The latch was repaired, the cans of food and now packed away in the bottom of a cupboard. Our pantry now contains lighter packets and such-like.
We are currently staying in Christchurch for three nights, to catch up with son Michael. It’s been a while since we last got together, so it was lovely to have some time together. After a good chat, and a home made coffee courtesy of his fancy coffee machine, we took him out for lunch. After indulging in both breakfast and lunch out at local cafes, and deciding that we had eaten plenty, it was back to the van for a ham sandwich for our evening meal.
Michael and his Mum
We came across another interesting sculpture on our travels around Christchurch – the Memorial Gateway on Russley Rd. The design of the Memorial Gateway symbolised the power of the Southern Alps, rivers and the crossing over of cultures that would be coming into the city.
Memorial Gateway
3 comments:
I’m enjoying tagging along with you. Just as well you were able to have your repairs carried out early in your trip. Enjoy your time with your son.
Is that road open now, under the sculpture? I was there in October and they were still working on that section.
Yes, Kiwitales, that section of road is now open, and the sculpture looks lovely. We drove along the road last night, and the sculpture was all lit up and glowing blue and looked great - wish I'd been quick enough to take a photo.
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