I was a Rider of Rohan & chased the sunset

After a major cock-up by Ace Rentals, I finally got underway out of Christchurch @ 1130, & headed west through the Canterbury Plains.

The roads reminded me of when I hitched in Spain, south of Albacete, with Bill in 1981. Straight roads! What?
And then there was a bend - & another straight road, etc etc etc.

Due to my late start, I called Bruce from Methven & he said to arrive about 3, but I was early, so did the brew & sunbathe bit at Staveley General Stores. It was very warm & the sky nearly cloudless. Difficult to imagine it was Dec 22nd!

Once at the trek centre, I made myself useful & helped untack the last ride. Bruce thought it may be a good idea if I rode around a bit 1st to see if the hip was going to play.
As he said, no point in taking the horses an hour away, only to find I couldn't do it, but, to be honest, I was going to do it, no matter what - Akira Meruna & all that :-)).
And I put some extra painkillers in the bumbag - just in case ;-)

Once off the main road, the track wound up past Mount Somers into the backcountry & towards Erehwon. Bruce reckons the place is named after Nowhere backwards!

Anyway, not only did I get to see the Edoras location, but also the cleft where Aragorn looked across at Helm's Deep, after he was rescued by his horse (which, in NZ, was near Gemstone Drive, Upper Hutt, Northe Island - if you've been listening! ! !)

I got some great photos & cool vid, but there's no substitute for eyes, & while I'm enjoying looking at the footage, what isn't shown by photography is the vastness of the valley, the strength of the wind & the sound of water as we rode towards Mount Sunday.
You can't tell on the film, but the valley is crisscrossed by loads of streams, which we splashed through. It reminded me of the first 'Quest for Githrond's Axe' where Gaz didn't bother looking for a place to cross the stream near Hollin Crag & just waded across. Dave wasn't best chuffed as he was wearing very unsuitable footwear!

Anyway, I told Bruce he'd helped me satisfy a big ambition - he seemed quite amused!

All in all it was a super adventure, & I could go on & on & on, but blogging costs a fortune without your own laptop, so I won't.

It was gone 8 before we got back, & I headed south down SH8. I'd intended to stop fairly soon for some food, but it seemed they don't eat out down there, so I was in Fairlie before I found somewhere. The chef from Aberdeen (the Scottish one!) was 'muy simpatico' & fed me even though he'd just closed the kitchen.
While I was there I tried to get a bed at the next YHA hostel, Lake Tekapo, but they'd shut up shop for the night, so I called Twizel (another hr & a half down the road) & he said he'd 'leave the key under the big orange pot to the right of the door'.

So I haired off down the road in a westerly direction, & as the road climbed out of the valley, I saw the sunset again.
The sky was silver right across the horizon & I followed the sunset for miles.
While my foot was down for most of the trip, I did stop at one point to try & get a shot of the fingernail moon & the final light of the sun across the horizon before it dropped into the Tasman Sea at the other side of Aoraki.
Unfortunately, the battery was flat - what a total bummer: I may never see that sight again.

Anyway, I hit Twizel at about 1115, but was so WIDE AWAKE with the zooming from Fairlie, I ended up doing Sudoku until way past 3am - oops

My room was well cool, just 2 beds, & on my ownsome again, & the whole hostel was a series of little cabins with up to 10 rooms in each. Cute.

Next morning I was up early, considering the late night & headed back towards Tekapo - seeing I'd missed most of it the night before. The Pelennor Fields was also somewhere around Twizel, but no-one I asked seemed to know exactly where?
Maybe it was a cunning plan to get tourists to book the official trip? ?

Anyway, having gone for a swim in Lake Tekapo & sunbathed for a bit (plus the obligatory shot of Aoraki across the lake), It was time to head back to Twizel & try & find the location for the Pelennor Fields.
Half way back I decided to get some salmon for tea from a salmon farm close to Lake Pukaki, & took a right - & bugger me, there it was across the canal.
Now if that isn't another bit of serendipity, I don't know what is. If I hadn't fancied some fresh fish, I'd never have found it - spooky or what?

So I'd ticked off another location & had a lovely colourful tea - pink salmon, green asparagus & yellow corn. All washed down with the Marlborough rose I'd got in Blenheim - more yums ;-)

Anyhow, it's Christmas Eve, nearly midnight, & there's a party going on, here at Nomads, Queenstown.
So, I'm off to join in . . . . . . (Merry X etc!)
OAO