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Published: November 18th 2006
Edmonds - our campervan
Sat in a carpark in KaikouraWe flew in to Christchurch from Oz on 22 October and, as expected, New Zealand is very different from Australia. We’ve spent much of our time comparing the places we’ve visited to Wales / the Lake District / the Yorkshire Dales / the Peak District / Scotland….delete as appropriate! Beautiful as all of that countryside has been, we’re happy to report that we’ve also seen a lot that’s unique to NZ.
Colonial Christchurch Christchurch (AKA ‘the Garden City’), is the largest city in the South Island but it’s more of a town than a city. Day 1 in NZ was a fairly grey day with a fresh breeze - lovely (no, seriously)! We didn’t achieve much on that first day other than a brief wander around and eating a scrummy Indian dinner that was also v cheap (just one perk of travelling in NZ)!
On days 2 and 3 we weighed up whether to buy or rent a campervan. After we paid a visit to the backpackers car market (where the vans made less of an impression than the desperation of the poor s*ds trying to flog them) and got a really good rental quote, our minds were
made up….we picked up our van on Day 4. He’s called Edmonds (Eddie, to us) after a famous NZ bakery chain and he’s graffiti-sprayed with various iconic NZ brand logos, including “Bacon” across the passenger door….very fitting for a vegetarian and a pseudo-vegetarian!
In the process of filling out the van rental documents we discovered that kiwis can drive at 15 years of age….and they can do so legally without insurance!! So, fingers crossed that we don’t come across any stroppy teenage-drivers.
In between all of that organising Rod managed to get out and about on his mountain bike to explore some of the hills that overlook Christchurch…. for more on that, see below.
We’d bought tickets to watch GB play the Kiwis in the Rugby League Tri-Nations in Christchurch the following weekend so we headed north to start our NZ tour in the interim.
Kaikoura The road to Kaikoura passed some beautiful, sheep-dotted, green hills (very Lake District-esque) before twisting around increasingly dramatic mountains.
Kaikoura is built on a small flat peninsula and, although the town itself is nothing special, the Seaward Kaikouras mountain range provide it with a stunning snow-capped backdrop -
Kaikoura cliff walk
Sheep, sea, mountains... the mountains seem to rise straight out of the sea.
Kaikoura is also famous for seal and whale watching. We tried to take a look at the local seal colony, but it was too far out to get close to, so instead we took a brief walk along a clifftop path and then back via the pebbly beach, dodging sheep and sheep poo as we went!
Unfortunately, we’ll also remember Kaikoura as the place where our left-over chilli was nicked from the campsite fridge….there are some things we won’t miss about travelling!!
Hamner Springs We drove south again (back towards Christchurch) through more lush green hills to Hamner Springs. People visit Hamner in winter for the nearby ski hills and year-round for its hot springs and outdoor sports.
We decided to try our first night of ‘free camping’ in Hamner (i.e. camping at no cost but with no facilities). In theory, you can do this in NZ but most towns post signs everywhere disallowing it.
Since we’d be spending the night without facilities we had a fish ‘n’ chip supper in the van and decided to go to the hot springs and then use
Waipara Sleepers
The waiting room (i.e. the kitchen) their showers! The hot springs are not as rustic as you might imagine - it’s basically an outdoor swimming pool complex but with various freshwater, rock, mineral and sulphur (AKA smelly) pools - but it was a nice way to while away a warm evening.
We free-camped on the edge of town that night without a hitch, but I couldn’t quite shake the feeling that we’d become skanky gypsies.
The following day Rod checked his newly-acquired book on NZ MTB trails and headed out for a few hours, before we drove out of the hills towards Waipara.
Waipara Waipara is just an hour or so north of Christchurch. It’s a relatively new wine region and as we’d gone more than two weeks without a winery visit we decided to have an afternoon of wine-tasting there. It was yet another sunny day although the wind had picked up and I spent my first day driving the van fighting the wind and trying to remember what to do with gears!!
We stayed in a fantastic campsite-cum-hostel in Waipara made up of old railway carriages, with a waiting room for a kitchen, complete with complimentary freshly-baked bread and
freshly-laid eggs (“at the chicken’s convenience”)!
Christchurch…again! The weather turned cold and grey again as we returned to Christchurch but we piled on the layers and had a proper wander around. Christchurch is supposedly NZ’s most ‘English’ city, so - as you’d expect - it has lots of nice old buildings, including the famous Anglican Cathedral. The Arts Centre (formerly the Canterbury College site) has an impressive quadrangle, with an art installation floating high in the middle of it (actually suspended by thin wires). Unfortunately, Christchurch also has lots of naff, newer buildings….and the museum even has a hideous 70’s annexe stuck on the side!
The River Avon (complete with punts) adds to the English feel, but outside of the city centre the colonial remnants disappear. At the Jade Rugby Stadium it was very clear that we were in New Zealand, a long way from Blighty!
Unfortunately, we were in the cheap seats with all of the local scum to watch GB Lions v NZ Kiwis in the Tri-Nations. After a week of marvelling at how nice, friendly and unassuming Kiwis are, it was a blunt reminder that every country has its fair share of
dead-heads. There was loads of colourful anti-pom chanting but the fights (of which there were plenty) broke out amongst the locals! …Rod says he’s never seen anything like it when he’s been at rugby matches at home.
For the record, the Lions lost the match 18-14, but after a breach of the regulations that determine a player’s eligibility to play for the Kiwis (now dubbed ‘Granny-gate’), the Kiwis were penalised so the win counted for nothing…ha ha!
Banks Peninsula & Akaroa We drove south out of Christchurch on Summit Road, which climbs in to the hills and provides great views towards Christchurch and the Southern Alps on one side, and of Banks Peninsula on the other. Banks Peninsula juts out of the East Coast just below Christchurch and it’s famed for its natural beauty. We followed the Peninsula around to the town of Akaroa (‘Long Harbour’ in Maori).
Akaroa was settled by the French in 1840. The British had already found the country but the imminent arrival of the French spurred them on to make it a British colony. Theoretically, if the French had arrived just a few years earlier, NZ (or the South Island at
Christchurch architecture
Possibly the worst annexe in the world (Christchurch museum)! least) could just have easily have become a French outpost.
Apart from its beautiful setting, everything in Akaroa has that touch of sophistication that only the French can manage. The buildings are picture perfect and all of the street, hotel and café names remain French. It’s the kind of place where a bit more cash would come in handy, but we found a great campsite to fit our budget on a hill overlooking the town.
After a beautiful afternoon big black clouds rolled in. Torrential rain and gale force winds bashed the peninsula all night. We were warm and cosy night in our van but soggy tents had been hung out to dry in the camp kitchen the next morning (bringing back memories of dreary California camping!), and down in Akaroa the waves were breaking over the harbour wall.
Bikers’ Corner After my generally frustrating attempts at enjoying the mountain biking that the east coast of Australia has to offer, I was glad to arrive in NZ. A quick trip into a Christchurch bike shop and I was armed with a book describing all of NZ’s best mountain bike rides… NZ likes to promote its mountain
Aerial sculpture
Christchurch Arts Centre biking potential and share the goods with anyone who visits! The local MTB clubs are very active at trail building and useful maps are often available at tourist info sites.
My first trip was from Christchurch into the Port Hills just south of the city centre. Grey skies and drizzle made me feel quite at home, as did the long farm track climb (I could have been back in Rammy!) The views were somewhat obscured by the low cloud, but I got to enjoy some nice flowing singletrack (slightly technical at times, especially in the wet conditions) all the way back into the city. When we drove out of Christchurch the second time over the Port Hills to Banks Peninsula on a sunny Sunday, these same trails were teeming with lucky locals.
Outing number two was in Hamner Springs. I managed to cover nearly every track in the area - lots of good stuff, very similar to the singletrack trails at the Welsh MTB centres like Coed-y-Brenin etc. Not massive scope, but very good nonetheless.
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