Flat Tyre & Rush Hour Traffic!

WOW! What a wild night! It felt like someone was outside shaking the bus. As wind rocked us about, the rain hammered on the roof. However, it was actually a soothing sound to drift off to sleep to. But the cold woke me several times and each time I woke, I added another layer of clothing; thick socks, track pants, poly prop...if I had of had a beanie, that would have been plonked on my head too. No sexy lingerie happening that night! Haha. I was dressed for ski-season! 

The bus doesn't have any heating. Well, not yet - we had ordered a diesel heater but it hadn't arrived before I set off. I was sure I'd be fine without it, after all it was only May, not the middle of winter.

The next morning, a hot shower soon warmed me up. But I wondered why the water in the shower tray hadn't drained away as it usually does. And I was soon to find out why!

Dammit - a flat tyre! Well that explained why the water wasn't draining! 

And as the saying goes, 'Every cloud has a silver lining' - this little problem did too. Three days before leaving, I just happened to join the AA. How lucky was that! The AA was everything that they advertise themselves to be, I can't recommend them highly enough!

After a quick phone call, help was on the way. Within an hour someone from Kaikoura Bridgestone Tyres had turned up to repair the tyre. 

An hour later everything was ship shape and we were off.
Destination - Gore Bay
The turn off to Gore Bay is from Cheviot, and driving into Cheviot, I noticed a line of autumn trees, I just had to stop and get my first autumn photo with the bus.

Gore Bay is a small coastal settlement of mainly holiday homes 8kms southeast of Cheviot. It's a hidden gem with summer beach houses, a camping ground and a popular surfing beach. 

Looking north

And looking south

Selfie time!

Attached to the fence, above the beach were an assortment of stones, with different messages.

The road that runs along the beach continues up a hill - I was hoping it would lead to the Cathedral Cliffs that I'd seen photos of. The dogs and I were already on foot so we continued walking up the hill.

As it was getting steeper the views were getting better and better.

And around a bend and a little further on was a sign saying 'Cathedral Lookout 200m'....yay.

The view point to this unique natural wonder is just off the road. It's a great spot to admire the cliffs, which were formed by natural erosion. Rainwater has eroded areas of the soft rock, creating siltstone pillars. 

The view point also provides a bird's eye view over Gore Bay.

Walking down hill was much faster (and easier - haha) than our climb up had been, so in no time we were back at the bus. 
Christchurch was to be where we'd spend the night. But first, we made a detour into Rangiora, where I went to Briscoes and bought the biggest, snuggliest and warmest duvet in the store, plus two hotties! No way was I going to have another chilly night's sleep!

As the sun was setting we arrived in Christchurch. Another first, was negotiating rush hour traffic to get to Weedons (an NZMCA park near Rolleston). As long as I was in the right lane, all was good, and things went even smoother if I didn't have to completely stop at the many round-abouts. The bus isn't the quickest at gaining speed from stand still! But we made it!  And after the dogs had their walk we settled in for a cosy night.