We awoke just before 8 o’clock after our final night with Mabel (we both slept very well). We could hear the rain on Mabel’s roof before we opened the curtains. Maybe the weather was trying to get us acclimatised to going back home?

After a double helping of cornflakes we set off from the campsite towards Christchurch. We stopped off in Ashburton to try and refill Mabel’s gas bottle but as we’d used so little the guy there couldn’t fill it any more! Next stop at Rolleston was to empty the grey water and toilet waste before a final fuel top up on the outskirts of Christchurch (Mabel was being very demanding on our last day together).

We returned Mabel to the motorhome depot and said our fond farewells with a final diesel tax payment of NZ$170 (yeah thanks for that Mabel).

Tracey got us an Uber and we were quickly back to the Distinction Hotel in the centre of Christchurch where we checked in and dumped our bags before heading out again.

We jumped on a city tour tram to the Botanical Gardens for a quick walk around and then back on again to the Quake City museum which told the story of the 2010/2011 earthquakes. Well worth a visit.

A short walk along the river (Avon) found us outside the Public Trust Building that just so happened to have a roof top bar so it was up in the lift to have a well deserved drink (Tracey went straight in for a ‘Boiler Maker’ which was basically a pale ale plus a Jamaican spiced rum on the side – we could be in for a rough night!)

A short walk back to the hotel for a quick shower before heading out for dinner at Bloody Mary’s (a lovely Chateaubriand between the two of us)

Total distance 139 kms (86 miles)