Ashvegas

Last night two friends and I drove down to Ashburton, which is about an hour south of Christchurch, to visit another friend who is on placement there. Didn't expect 'Ashvegas' to be really any much fun, especially as we were out ten minutes or so into the country from the town, but had a fantastic time! We had fish and chips at the Ashburton domain and then drove out to the farm Marielle is boarding at for her ten weeks of placement. The owners were away for a week, but the dog, Allie (!!!!!), a beautiful and friendly German Shepherd, was still there. It's very confusing having the same name as a dog.

I didn't realise how close Ashburton is to the sea, and it's even closer where the farm is. So Marielle and Katie ran down (about 3 or 4 kms) and Natalie and I biked. It was so lovely to bike again, on a big wide road with no traffic and hardly any wind, unlike Christchurch, with the sun setting. It was great to get to the sea as well, and sit on the beach and throw rocks for the dog and watch the sun set. We had a very late night and woke up really early because two of the others had to be back in Christchurch by 8am (grrroooaaan). The middle photo is of the other three: (l-r) Marielle, Nat and Katie. In the bottom one you might be able to see the guys who were fishing there, and their little fire, and the top one is from the top of the cliff overlooking the beach, and looking north, up the east coast. (Hopefully they're not too dark because on this old computer it's hard to see them properly, while they were fine on my laptop.)