Sleepy Start

Waking early, I offered my familial room-mates the option of a swim.
Ailsa responded with guarded enthusiasm but got ready. We found the
gym, pool and sauna all empty and waiting for us. The pool was warm,
short and fairly shallow. We used the sauna to get warmer, and tried
cold showers in between. The rain that had been falling most of the
night, still dripped around outside. We would have leave jumping from
the sauna straight out into the snow for another day.
Lynne and Angus were still in their beds when we returned to the room.
Not happy that we'd taken the room key - and not smart enough to use a
credit card to make the power come back on while we were out.
Gradually, everyone got dressed, and we went down to find some
breakfast. Too late - breakfast in the hotel was not available after
1000 - unless we ordered room service. We would look elsewhere - in
the continuing rain. With rain jackets on we walked for 10 minutes to
find a cafe. A helpful lady told us how to contact her friend about
skiing at Mount Cheesman. There is a 'club' field there, and it is
apparently cheaper than commercial operations. We left the hotel after
1200 and took a shuttle bus back out to the motor home hire place near
the airport. We unpacked our bags, and left some empty ones at the
depot. The young girls in the depot got a bit flustered when new
customers started arriving and they were delayed in dealing with our
pick-up because of computer problems. A lady with a North American
accent announced that her flight was leaving in 40 minutes. It turned
out to be an international flight - which meant she had already missed
it really. The lack of trained staff was a bit alarming - and their
fairly slack handover didn't inspire confidence. I'd hired a few motor
homes before - so it wasn't a big deal for me. I just wanted to be on
my way. We'd blown too much of the day away already. We banked some
cash and collected some groceries at Pak 'N Save. After dark, we
pulled up in Ashburton for the night.