• England
• New Zealand & Singapore
• Scotland
• Wales
• Yorkshire
• Rest of the World

Martin cooks the breakfast. A great big omelette, bacon, sausages &c. He and Peter are off to play golf. Jacqui lets me use her computer to sort out my email while she and Christine talk about handicrafts and other things.

We get away about 10.15 a.m. and end up driving through the centre of Christchurch, which is a tedious journey. We stop somewhere near Amberley at a Beer Garden for some delicious ice-cream. From there it is a long drive up SH1 and there are a lot of heavy wagons on the move. Some are full of sheep, others full of logs. Most have a second trailer attached. They are extremely difficult to overtake and some take great pains to be total road-hogs. The coastal scenery around Kaikoura is very nice, and in different circumstances, I would have stopped and possibly considered a helicopter flight to view the whales found off this shore. But the last thing I want is to find myself behind the convoys of wagons again so we carry on until we reach the small village of Ward.

Here there is a small café. We have a drink and a bite to eat. It is only a short way on to Blenheim where I fill up the car. Our overnight stay is at Le Grys Vineyard in Renwick.

We are greeted first by the dog and then by Jennifer Joslin, who shows us the Mudhouse lodge in which we are staying. The bed is a four-poster in its own room. There is a separate shower-room. The main room is a lounge-cum-kitchen. Shortly we are brought a sample of the locally-produced Mudhouse Wine and a tray of nibbles including cheese and slices of smoked salmon.

After the somewhat exhausting drive, we spend the evening reading and watching a little television. I catch the start of the Malaysian Grand Prix but loose interest half way through and go to bed.