Day 3 - Friday 8th June - Scenic Highway 72 South - Christchurch to Mt Somers

We woke at 4am today!! Somewhat jet-lagged....body clocks confused... 

We survived our first night in the van with temperatures of -5 degrees Celsius...COLD!

Wrapped up very warm with the heating on full in the driver’s cab we left Christchurch south heading towards Geraldine on the Highway 72, which is an inland scenic route. 

A view from Highway 72

The snowy weather on Highway 72

We passed the Rakaia Gorge which was incredible and continued to Mount Somers village where we spent the night at a local camping ground. We were the only guests here...the owners were really friendly and helpful and advised us how to get to “Edoras” (Lord of the Rings film location).

Approach to Rakaia Gorge

On bridge over Rakaia Gorge

Mt Somers

Mountains towards "Edoras"

The evening was spent watching Lord of the Rings, “The Two Towers” to prepare Ruth for the visit to Edoras the next day.