Remeber the days......

......of the old schoolyard, Cat Stevens song just comes to mind.

Still raining as we pulled back the curtains this morning, we were all restless and really felt like a day trip away but in which direction we didn't know, the weather was doom and gloom everywhere or so it seemed, not a good day for a picnic was the only conclusion we came to.

Driving along inland scenic route 72 the rain fell and the clouds swirled around the foothills, no mountains in sight today. The rivers were still their icy blue in the gorges and people were on the riverbeds in jackets strolling in the rain, it certainly was warm enough.

As tummies began to grumble we came to the small settlement of Staveley in mid-Canterbury, a great place to stop for a bite to eat and enjoy a wee stroll. We found a little country church which was built in 1903, lunched at the café which was the site of the first grocery store in 1876, saw the hall which was built in 1894 and enlarged in 1924, there is a lot of history round this area. An area where many of the early inhabitants of the district made a living, or a partial living, from the forest as sawyers, timber merchants and mill workers.

Willian Langdown started the first Staveley lime kiln business in 1896. It consisted of a coal mine, lime quarry, lime kiln and a tramway from the kiln to Sharplin's sawmill. The second kiln was built by the Christchurch Lime Company in 1904 and operated until 1910.

The former Springburn School classroom, built in 1883, houses a geological collection and local historical photos and artifacts. The centre was started on the Springburn School site in 1981 and the building shifted to Staveley in 1996. Its good to see an old building still in use, although closed today.

If your in the area don't just pass on by, stop and stretch your legs have a bite to eat and hopefully Mt Somers will be clear of cloud. We found a pocket of no rain for about an hour over lunch, we had another wonderful family day.