Blogs from Canterbury Plains, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania
Plaines du Canterbury : voyage sur les terres du Rohan
Published: March 10th 2011Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Canterbury Plains
March 10th 2011
Après notre dure épopée à Kaikoura, nous avons définitivement quitté les côtes du Pacifique (jusqu’à la prochaine fois, sans doute en Australie :o)) pour nous ressourcer une petite nuit à Hanmer Springs. Cette station de 740 habitants, placée dans le creux d’une montagne, abrite en fait des sources naturelles d’eau chaude sortant de terre à plus de 70° C ! Des bains et piscines chaudes, soufrée à cœur (mmmmh un petit souvenir de Rotorua !), ont bien évidemment vu le jour ici, première et principale attraction du village. Il n’y aura pas de photos de notre baignade relaxante, images censurées. :o) Mais nous vous garantissons que ce fût un agréable moment ! Puis enfin, nous atteignons le lendemain notre dernière demeure (ou presque !) en Nouvelle-Zélande : Methven. Ce village de 1400 habitants, situé dans les ... read more
Day 14: Travelling to Tekapo
Published: December 13th 2010Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Canterbury Plains
December 13th 2010
Day 14, Travelling to Tekapo I was so worried that I'd miss my 8:30 a.m. bus to Tekapo that I got up at 5:30 a.m. -- and I had packed the night before. I dithered about whether or not to take my half-empty oatmeal bag, and finally decided to do so -- a good thing too, as it turned out. The taxi came promptly at 7:40 a.m. to take me to the bus station. I got out of the taxi, walked over to the Intercity terminal (which was no more than a storefront), failed to notice that there was a slight step up into the building, and tripped. Since I was carrying the pizza bag, I was unable to catch myself, and I went over backwards like a nine-pin. Two kind people, one man and one ... read more
July 26th 2009
Last Sunday, glad that proper winter is here (blue skies and warm days) we drove out to the Otukaikino Reserve near Belfast for a picnic and a walk. This place is pretty special in that it is a sacred Maori area and also currently used as a local memorial walk. We were near to the Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, and as we still have annual memberships, we also went in there for a walk in the late afternoon sun. Just an excuse to post some pictures really... ... read more
May 17th 2009
On Sunday, we drove west out of and sunny-but-cold Christchurch on SH73, through Darfield and Springfield, towards the Southern Alps. We crossed the awesome Korowai Torlesse Tussocklands and arrived at the spectacular limestone rock formations of Kura Tawhiti in time for it to start raining. Kura Tawhiti is a place that we keep driving past, but as it is usually on our way home from a 7 hour drive we had never actually stopped there. We had also planned to go for a walk in the Craigieburn Forest Park a few more kilometres up the road, so we continued on and resolved to stop on our way back... We arrived at the turn off for the forest park just as the rain became extremely heavy and so resolved to take the car for a rally drive ... read more
Castle Hill (old) {Cath}
Published: May 7th 2011Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Canterbury Plains
April 13th 2009
Having been doing a whole bunch of settling in and house things, it was finally time to get out of the house for a bit and enjoy some of New Zealand's scenery with friends! We decided that a day trip to Arthor's Pass would do just the trick. So, Dave, Eriko, Darrell, Damien, and myself piled into Dave's Silver Beeper and off we went. it was roadtrip time!! Even if we were doing just the drive, it would be worth it. Watching as the landscape rolls from placid farmlands, into long flat open space, lifting gently into rolling hills and finally winding into rocky mountains with steep valleys and long rivers is the most beautiful and peaceful thing. We stopped of in Springfield (about an hour west of Christchurch) for some of their famous pies but ... read more
Canterbury & Christchurch 8-11 March
Published: March 17th 2009Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Canterbury Plains
March 16th 2009
8th March - Start back N towards Christchurch - first stop Moeraki - coffee at "Fleur's Place" (found to be highly recommended by Rick Stein - we wished we were there for a meal!) Then on to see the famous Moeraki boulders. Amazingly spherical (about 6ft or so diameter) they fall out of the cliff side as it gradually erodes.... read more
Sorry its been so long
Published: March 12th 2009Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Canterbury Plains
March 12th 2009
Hello everyone Yes I am still alive, was looking at my last entry and it was way back at christmas time!! Crikey! If you havnt heard I have switched host families, wasnt working out with the Sommervilles so about 7 weeks ago I moved to a new farm just outside of Ashburton. Was kinda scared for a bit because the Agri-Venture people said I might have to move down south because most of the farms here didnt need extra help but luckily it panned out. I live with Dan and Natasha White who farm Tash's (Williamson) family farm about 10 km toward the ocean from Ash and another farm on the other side of town. Total size is around 1000 acres, 500 of that is leased to a dairy farmer who runs livestock on grassed paddocks ... read more
Canterbury Capers
Published: November 16th 2008Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Canterbury Plains
November 14th 2008
Monday - Christchurch We slept in. Around midday we crawled out of bed and turned ourselves into something that resembled human beings. Having done that Mel dragged Alan & Dave onto a bus and we headed into Christchurch to do a little bit of sight seeing and souvenir shopping. Christchurch is a beautiful city with a lot of old style European architecture. There are a lot of open parklands and there is an open, airy feel to the streets. We wandered around Cathedral square for some time before heading down Worcester St. Here fortune smiled on us - our favourite NZ store (Global Culture) was having a 50% off sale. We went a little crazy buying clothing. Even Dave bought himself a couple of shirts! Happy with our bargains, we crossed the river Avon which runs ... read more
February 13th 2008
The final week on the farm came, nice and cruisy work-wise, not so much socially! I obviously had planned to say goodbye to all my buddies but i didnt realise exactly how many i had until the farewell tea invitations came flooding in! And just to make it more interesting (read stressful) there were a few more January Challenges thrown in! And of course i actually had to pack... Monday: Went out to tea with Paul and Jo, friends from church, at their farm. I think these are the people i will miss the most from my time in Methven. They have been so much fun and just awesomely supportive when things havent quite gone to plan. It was lovely to say goodbye to them properly and see the girls and thier wee baby boy again. ... read more
Trying to Escape Christchurch
Published: February 12th 2008Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Canterbury Plains
February 12th 2008
I am busy with work at FAR and have taken a job at the local pub to start the get out of Christchurch fund. Any and all donations to the fund will be appreciated;-) I am getting very itchy feet as a result of staying in the same place for so long so I am trying to make the most of my time off to stop me just running for it now!! I have been to see some of the buskers at the international busking festival that was here a couple of weeks ago. Some where amazing, there were some acrobatic acts on the aerial rig in the park that you would play to see and others that where really bad who you would pay to make go away!! I have also been trying to do ... read more
