Reunions

10 days ago, the night before leaving Oamaru after spending a week there, we were reunited with Andy Greene, last seen in this blog last March. Andy is an American, living in France, who is walking the length of New Zealand, from North to South, in 4 stages, one stage per year. When we met him this time, he was 3 days into his final stage. For a few days he was accompanied by his daughter Kristina, and we had dinner with them both at The Last Post (a former Post Office) in Oamarau. The next day we drove down to Balclutha for another reunion, with Lyn and Selwyn Cardno, who stayed with us at our home in France last July, and with whom we then spent a week in Paris - our first visit to that city. We arrived at the Cardno's new home at lunchtime. Lyn had made us a splendid lunch to share with Pauline and John Smith, with whom we were having yet another reunion. John and Pauline were part of the Pelicanos group with which we toured Peru a couple of years ago. They are currently touring New Zealand and Balclutha was the only place at which our paths would cross. Lyn rose to the occasion and hosted the meeting before Pauline and John went on their way for a visit to the albatross colony near Dunedin before spending the night in the city. We spent an excellent week with Lyn and Selwyn, accompanied by excellent weather, which is almost the only type we have seen here this summer. Believe it or not, we didn't take any photographs of any of these wonderful events. Friday we moved on up to Alexandra, frequently the hottest place in New Zealand in the summer (and the coldest in the winter). Here we were reunited with the delightful Denise of Alexandra, our hostess for the next two weeks. This area was the setting for the original conception of Vic's Big Walk, mainly because we do a lot of walking here. Our normal 25 kms circuit from Alexandra to Clyde and back includes a walk along the river bank, past much evidence of old gold workings, from the Alexandra Bridge to the Clyde Bridge, both of which are picture below. The riverbank path follows the course of the mighty Clutha River, only partly tamed by the Clyde Dam, which holds back the huge Lake Dunstan. Alexandra Bridge Gay Dwarfed In The Forest Clyde Bridge