The school year ended yesterday. 48 days until the next school year. That means there's time for a 47 day road trip!
We packed up at the lettuce farm, where we'll be returning in Feb, and hit the road.
Day 1
It will be our longest travel day of the Summer, 7.5 hours drive time. We decided to get far north on the South Island to start our adventures. The majority of our road trip will be spent on the North Island.
The first destination, Hanmer Springs, for a visit to the thermal pools.
The Pink Glider
Just two hours into the trip, Andrew at Crystal Cottage suggested we stop at the Pink Glider Cafe. He's an experienced glider and in just the last couple of weeks he purchased a glider as his son Tomas (13 yrs old) is being introduced to the sport. Their hanger is at the airfield adjacent to the Pink Glider Cafe.
After gobbling up some savory scones hot out of the oven, we wandered onto the airfield. We said hello to some younger campers learning to glide and spoke with Graham who runs the camp. We told him we know Andrew & Tomas and he eagerly told us all about the program and even let Paige and Sadie sit in a glider which had just landed on the airstrip.
We even got to see one come in for a landing up close!
Andrew & Tomas's Glider
Then Jake, a 14 year old glider camper took up over to the hangers where we got to see Andrew & Tomas's glider! Jake was about to take his first solo flight later that afternoon! Kids as young as 13 get up in a glider here on their own!
He spent about 20 minutes with us telling us all about gliding, techniques and flights he's been on. What a great introduction to the sport. We look forward to coming back in the future to see Tomas fly.
Back on the road, we continued North. We were treated to a beautiful view of Mt Cook, our first time seeing the iconic mountain. Last time we passed through this way, it was covered in clouds the entire time.
The afternoon was all driving with a quick stop for a picnic lunch and picking up some used books at a local library for summer reading, plus an afternoon shared beer/toilet break at supposedly the region's original craft brewery, Brew Moon.
We're pumped to be back out on the road to explore NZ, which amazes us at every turn.
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