Driving from Dunedin to Lake Takepo the other day, I knew I would go through it. But I must have missed it as I arrived in Tekapo without seeing it. Leaving Lake Tekapo this morning I knew I would be driving back the way I came to Fairlie, and although heading north from there, it would only be a 10 minute drive out of the way to go find it again. I had double checked on google before I left, so I knew it was there. Once through Fairlie I kept my eyes peeled, and sure enough, 10 minutes later, there it was on the right. I indicated and turned in, pulled up and grabbed my camera. I got a photo of the road sign, and of the little sign on the creek bridge.
I continued on driving up Cricklewood Road (it was a dirt track) for 3 or 4 miles, but there were just a couple of farms and nothing more, so I returned, a little disappointed there were no buildings or anything else with the name on it. As I got back to the corner to return towards Fairlie I realised there was actually a house on the corner of the road, so I pulled up again to take a little look. And there it was. The piece de resistance. Staring me in the face. I had no choice, I had to see if anyone was home. I made my round the corner to the front of the house, and the front door was wide open. I knocked and shouted hello. No answer. But I could hear voices. So I walked down the side path to see if I could find anyone out the back, it didn't lead me to anywhere, but I could still hear the voices. So I returned to the open front door and rang the doorbell. Marilyn came to the door and I explained the situation. She immediately invited me in, and introduced me to her husband and her sister (who actually lived in Christchurch but had been forced away by the earthquake and damage to her home). We chatted for a long while, I explained my journey, and they the history of the area as far as they knew it. Originally, some time back in the late 1800's, the area around them had been set to become the township of Cricklewood. Indeed they have seen the original paper plans of where the Church would go, where the houses would go, where the shops would go, where the school would go etc etc. The school was built, but for whatever reason the township never really materialised, and the school was eventually closed. The house they now live in is situated where the school used to be, and they have lived there since the mid 1980's. The sign in fact belonged to the school, but they had managed to get hold of it from some officials somewhere, and relocated it in their garden. After a while chatting, we went out to take the photo, and I promised when I return home I will send them a photo of me by a Cricklewood sign in London.
This all came at the end of a day in which I had been on a horse trek through the wonderful scenery around Lake Tekapo and driven down to Twizel to take in the spectacular views of Mt Cook. All in a days work...
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