While we are camping in the back paddock of Chatterley Manor, and there is nothing wrong with that – the front of the property is quite something and looks very grand indeed. As well as being a B&B, it is also a wedding venue, with guest accommodation. We were invited to walk around the gardens, so we did.
The rose garden was very pretty, and there are sculptures al through the gardens. The rustic green cow contrasted nicely with the rather elegant moose.
Animal sculptures
The owner’s three little poodles rushed out barking loudly to see what we were up to as we slowly walked around the garden – and then, warning duty done, happily went back inside again.
Chatterley Manor
On our travels around town we followed a truck driver under instruction - we hadn't seen one of these before. The small truck was well loaded up with concrete blocks.
After lamenting the hot sticky weather for the last wee while, things have certainly changed. Yesterday everything went pear-shaped with a huge storm pounding large parts of the country. Rain and powerful winds caused flooded homes, roads closed, roofs lifted off homes, many people evacuated, storm surges, and goodness knows what else, it was hard to keep up with all the warnings. SH6 between Franz Joseph and Fox Glacier was closed due to slips and downed power lines trapping about 115 tourists who spent the night in their cars. And even more people trapped in Haast as slips closed West Coast highways. Whew- luckily we weren’t on the West Coast yesterday, we are still safely tucked up in the back paddock at Chatterley Manor.
The wind had dropped a little in our area this morning but it was still raining and very wet underfoot, and the temperature was down to 14degC. No sight-seeing today we decided, but we took ourselves off to the movies instead. We saw “Darkest Hour”, the story of Winston Churchill and his early turbulent time as Prime Minister while German war machine rolls across Europe, with the threat of invasion of the United Kingdom. It was a very strong portrayal of Churchill, with the powerful words of his great speeches ringing out which did so much to rally the nation.
Senior prices are always welcome when we go to the movies, but that wasn’t the only benefit. Free morning tea was nicely set out on a table, with freshly brewed coffee and locally baked biscuits available for theatre patrons.
Free morning tea as well
While we were engrossed in the film the wind seems to have died down and the rain had stopped. Christchurch seemed to get off with lesser damage than a lot of other areas, but there will be a lot of clean up still to take place in the badly hit areas.
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