Been driving myself mad asking myself question that I have no chance of answering, like how things are going to pan out for me when I get home. For some reason I don't feel in control of my own destiny, it's all reliant on so many other factors falling into place. Life seemed so simple not so long ago and that's what I need to get back to.
I took off with the intention of heading down to Ashburton, then Geraldine, before heading back up to Methven passing Mount Somers and Hutt. However on the road down to Ashburton I saw a sign for the Rakaia gorge and that rather took my interest so I took the 50kms detour. I wasn't too concerned about missing Ashburton as I'd already been through there on our first roadtrip and to be honest I don't remember anything about it so it can't be all that.
I was listening to 'The Best of Scotland'. It's a sad admission, but it would make my Mum proud. I do like 'Flower of Scotland' and 'Scotland the Brave'. 'Amazing Grace' played on the bagpipes is always very thought provoking for me, (people who know will understand). 'Mull of Kintyre' makes me want to slash my wrists. My only question mark was how on earth did 'Donald where's your troosers' and 'I belong to Glasgow' get on the 'Best of Scotland' tape. I guess that says alot about Scottish music.
Rakaia Gorge was absolutely gorgeous and it was nice to be off the tourist route. With Mount Hutt for a backdrop it made a stunning sight.
I carried on into the nice little village of Methven. It's basically a ski resort for Mount Hutt when the snow comes, which will be on it's way soon enough. I checked into the YHA for NZ$25 a night including breakfast and then headed out to Mount Somers and the site of Edorras from 'The Lord of the Rings'. Now I don't profess to be a 'Ringer' so I have no idea what I was looking at (as in which part of which movie it was in), but it was beautiful.
Followed the Inland scenic route (beautiful) south to Geraldine and then Winchester before turning back up towards Ashburton. Then I got a text from Mx who has just rocked back up in Christchurch and wanted to meet up. I headed back up to see her. It was nice to have her back on form and she'd settled back into the traveling life style. NZ does that to you. It was also nice to play a little role reversal and bend her ear (sorry).
Finally it was back to Methven for some sleep. It's fair to say that I've learnt some valuable lessons about myself recently, but I also temporarily lost sight of why I am traveling.
