Ealing to Ashburton

What a delightful day we spent at Ealing NZCA Park.  We arrived at lunch time, picked a possie on the lush green grass, and set ourselves up in this lovely park, which is well sheltered by large mature trees.  There was plenty of room to spread out and by the time early evening arrived, there was only six or so vans scattered around the park.  Deciding to take a day off from sight-seeing we had a relaxing afternoon, sitting under the shady trees, reading, and one of us decided to take a well earned Grand-dad nap.  There is an old church on site, which now serves as a meeting room, and another ever popular book recycling.

Ealing NZMCA Park

The next morning dawned cloudy and much cooler, and we started off the morning with our obligatory Sunday morning breakfast of bacon and eggs.  Time to move on again and we drove just 35km to our next stop in Asburton, their POP called Donegal Downs, which had been recommended to us by other campers.  Such lovely friendly hosts, they welcomed us with open arms and as an unexpected bonus, some freshly laid eggs courtesy of the resident chooks!

We have the back paddock to ourselves at the moment, but who knows, other campers could well arrive during our time here.

Donegal Downs, Ashburton

There is a lot to keep us entertained here, with chickens clucking around, several doves, three miniature ponies over the fence, and watching the antics of Wolfie the little white Spitz dog.

Chickens and rooster

Wolfie the Spitz dog

We took a brief trip up town to find a money machine and have a quick look around.  The handsome clock tower commemorates the first 100 years of County Government.  The tower has become widely recognized as the symbol of Ashburton. In 2004, the New Zealand Institute of Architects acknowledged the significance of the Warren and Mahoney structure in presenting them with an “Enduring Architecture” award for their design based around four slender post-tensioned concrete columns. And it is interesting to look through the glass panels at the working clock mechanism.

Ashburton clock tower

Inside the glass panels

Pretty fountain in centre of town

We have just had a little taste of Ashburton today, and no doubt we will be out and about exploring tomorrow.