It is so easy to just want to snuggle under the blankets in the mornings and not want to venture forth to greet the day. Especially when it is reportedly -7ºC outside! Yikes.
It was so cold this morning that when I went out to get the car started, I poured warm water over the ice on the windows to defrost it and it instantly refroze. Second wash, and yip frozen again. Resorted to the credit card scrape trick. There was no opening the car windows, they were frozen shut...even an hour later! And this is 9:30 in the morning.
But amongst the bitter reality of cold there is breath taking beauty all around. The days have been gloriously clear and sunny, deluding one into thinking that possibly it is warm beyond our mansions walls. We are toasty warm in the bus - a regular 18 degrees all night long. It is not until we have peeked outside that we realise how nasty the night has been. Our diesel heater is pumping beautifully, our condensation no more - note, deep gratitude!!!
Around us the Southern Alps glitter in the sunlight, and the bright white of the frost is painted in stark contrast against the tarseal. The nearby river flows over frozen rocks, the ebbs too slow to flow, lie frozen into miniature lakes.
Having travelled from Nelson down through the Lewis Pass we were treated to the magnificent mountain ranges and bush clad hills and valleys. We even managed to find the remanents of a little snow, enough to stop and throw a few snowballs before retreating into the warmth again. We spent the night near Hamner Springs before moving on to Christchurch then back to Oxford for the next 3 days.
We then returned to Staveley where we had a grand reunion of friends at the Natural Learning Camp that we had attended prior to going on the road. It was wonderful to see old faces and meet new ones and return to our tribe of like minded souls again. It certainly was a sense of coming full circle.
We moved on down to South Canterbury to particpate fully in the Southern winter. For now the heater continues to hum. and the water pipes still flow. We managed to be here in time for school holidays so we are reconnecting with friends and family and basking in the glorious sunshine, behind glass.
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:)t
Thanks for dropping by and yes we will!! May be a wee while before we get back to that part of the country again but it will happen!