the ground beneath her feet.

Ivan & I have just returned from a roadtrip to celebrate our twentieth wedding anniversary-- one in which we revisited the places we journeyed to as newlyweds on our honeymoon. back then, we drove a little old red Nissan that gifted us with a flat tyre halfway up the Kaikoura highway, & we paid for our accomodation in cheap little motels we booked into as we went, using hard-earned fistfuls of cash. I took around fifty photos on my film camera & hoped they'd all turn out. twenty years later, we travelled in a big new red Mitsubishi with cruise control & blessed aircon, & stayed at swanky hotels we'd booked online using credit cards. this time I took over 900 digital photos, & could see instantly what I'd captured. ah, progress. ;)

some things were just like the good old days, though: the motel we stayed at in Kaikoura was a source of much hilarity due to the fact that the airconditioning consisted of a window propped open with a block of wood, the television had a set of rabbit-ears for an aerial & only picked up two channels, the toilet appeared to have been stuffed into a hall cupboard, & the bathroom had NO DOOR WHATSOEVER, ahahajkhklahdfklshf. still, it was clean & tidy, the bed was warm & comfortable, and this was our view.

apparently I can deal with anything if I have a view of the ocean to soothe my soul-- even if I am staying in an establishment run by Norman Bates' younger & weirder brother. :D

in contrast, the hotel in Blenheim was quite possibly the nicest one we have ever stayed in, with a huge room, a super-king size bed, a spa bath, swimming pool, and our very own balcony. I could easily have lived there, especially with the added bonus of ROOM SERVICE. ♥

anyway. it was a fantastic vacation with glorious weather & lots of gorgeous, gorgeous scenery. I'd forgotten just how beautiful that part of the country is, but never again: afterall, I have 900+ photos to remind me. :)

more in a flickr set [ here. ]