“On a Mish” #325 Time to Head North. Te Anau to Christchurch. Te Waipounamu. 30.4.2022. Everyday it seems a little more certainty is taken away from our day to day lives. Every couple of weeks a life changing event will interrupt our normal routine, be it a change in mask rules or something to do with the border. So each day we wake up wondering if this will be a normal day, or will this be another day when we are forced into changing our existence. Just to make things interesting I had a slip which led to me re-injuring my bad hip…
I am very lucky / unlucky (depending on how you look at it), that my annual leave coincided with my injury. This means I can head up to Christchurch and hopefully get some answers with the medical care available up in Canterbury. As much as I love my little hometown of Te Anau, it is not the best place to be injured. Having only a medical centre means a lot of travel to other locations for treatment, and none of these locations are close. So with a new bout of pain to deal with I decided to make the trip north and see if I can get myself fixed. Now when it comes to drives, a roadie through the interior of the South Island on a fine day is a very visually pleasing automotive adventure. I knew with my re-injured hip there would be many stops, and the near 700km journey would take a long time. And also, due to the strength of my current pain killers, I had to tackle the journey with a lot of discomfort. So with all of this in mind I began to drive. First stop was in Queenstown to catch up with the bros. Next was pushing on to a spot near the Lindis Pass where I enjoyed the colours of autumn as I stretched my legs.
The next break was looking across the turquoise water of Lake Pukaki at New Zealand’s mountain king, Aoraki / Mt Cook. With a view of the biggest peak in Australasia I enjoyed some lunch and another opportunity to stretch my aching limbs. I thought I might be able to go the rest of the way, but after climbing over the hills onto the Canterbury Plains I needed one last break before finishing the mish. With the Port Hills in sight I knew I was nearly there, and after a long 9 hours I drove into the outskirts of the South Island’s largest town. Getting to Christchurch was only the beginning and now (after a good rest) I can start taking the first steps towards recovery. Being injured sucks, and obviously getting re-injured is even worse. However, until time machines are invented I will be dealing with the situation I find myself in, so I have no choice but to get on with it. When it is all said and done things could be a lot worse and when looking at what’s going on around the world at the moment, I believe I am not in a position to complain! Stay safe out there whanau!!
