A very lazy start to the day, long showers, a good cooked breakfast while Moulin Rouge was showing on the television, writing our journals.
When we did finally manage to draw the curtains and face the world it was noon and we had things to do. Our first task was to have someone from the Toyota garage to cast their eye over the recent ailments Ian had afflicted on the Corolla. A friendly chap had a look at the boot and said as long as it closed it would be best not to tamper with it. He also offered us the advice that the boot had obviously buckled in the wind before and had a knock on its rear which would have weakened the joints. He gave a rough estimate as to the cost involved in getting a panel beater to repair it and we made our leave, having also got a quote for the replacement clasp required to repair the glove compartment.
A drive 36 kilometres north of Timaru took us to Geraldine where we had a nice lunch in a friendly cafe and then we drove a further 95 kilometres to Mount Potts Station, 48 kilometres off the main state highway 72, the majority of which was on a gravel road. Our destination today was a small hillock positioned in the forefront of Mount Potts, where Edoras from Lord of the Rings was created. It was very rewarding to be the only people for miles around to be present at a genuine film location which featured in an excellent adaptation of JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
On our return across the gravel road we came to rest as we approached a falcon feeding from roadkill. I managed to capture a couple of photographs, one of which was, hopefully, as the falcon tried to lift the carcass. His enjoyment of his meal was being threatened by our arrival and that of the oncoming vehicle. As we see falcons flying around and overhead every day in New Zealand I was keen to get a good picture of one, preferably close up and therefore feeding. Ian pulled over and I leaped out of the car quickly yet quietly as the falcon had returned to the carcass. Unfortunately he was not comfortable with our parked car on the road near his meal and failed to return to the site. I sat by the side of the car for over 30 minutes waiting for the falcon to return but he was, sadly, perturbed by our presence. We moved on allowing him to return to his meal and drove back to Timaru for some dinner.
We drove a round trip distance of 279 kilometres today and completed our day by watching Red Planet on the television in the evening.