We had to check out of our Riccarton accommodation . We met the couple checking in as they had arrived early from Melbourne.  They were here for a wedding.  The guy’s family had sold their holiday house in Inverloch quite a few years ago.  As he was a keen fisherman there was much discussion of the recent changes in Anderson Inlet.

Our hosts looked after our bags for the day and took Jan’s advice and drove up to Hanmer Springs .  Our choice of cafe in Amberly was unfortunately a poor one ! At Hanmer Springs I decided to take in the Mountain Bike tracks in the forest while Lil went for a walk.  The tracks were pretty much a hoot till I chose one that little to difficult! Track->  On the way back we stopped again at Amberly but this time managed to choose a small Thai restaurant where the food was great.

We picked up our bags from our previous hosts and checked in to our next accommodation , a room in a modern flat owned by a young couple in the St Albans area.

That evening we walked to the Ice Rink to watch James play Ice Hockey. Whilst his team was thrashed James was rather Gretzkyish in his performance.