The family visit

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Lots to tell, I’ll try and do it all in chronological order but hey, you won’t know any different!

Firstly I want to mention the ferry ride from Wellington to Picton. It was exciting to think that finally on my 3rd visit to the country that I would actually get to see the South Island. The ferry was delayed by a couple of hours so I drove into Wellington just to give it a cursory glance really as I want to do it properly at some point. Got a bit lost but found my way to the parliament buildings and then out of the city on the coast road which is a gorgeous narrow windy road with sheer cliffs on one side and beautiful harbour scenery on the other.

As it happens the delay was a real bonus, the view coming into the Queen Charlotte Strait and on toward Picton is simply breathtaking especially at sunset. The engine noise from the ferry is absorbed by the beautiful Marlborough Sounds as you navigate serenely towards the port. If I could only do one journey over and over again forever, the last 30 minutes of that ferry ride would be it!

Arriving in Christchurch I was excited about the prospect of seeing my family. On the map, the airport didn’t seem very far from the campsite. I had plenty of time to kill so I thought I would walk there. A little over 2 hours and I had arrived. They all looked exhausted after 30 hours straight flying but nevertheless there were smiles all round. My cousin arrived the next day and we had a quick explore around Christchurch before heading south.

The South Island is incredible, just when you think you can’t imagine a better view, one presents itself around the next bend. I lost count of how many times we stopped on the side of the road to take pictures of mountains, lakes, beaches, valleys, green rolling hills etc.
During the 2 weeks that they were with me we covered a lot of miles and saw a lot of the South Island. Most of which I will be lucky enough to be able to visit again when Cottey, Yan, Katharine, Andy and Becky arrive over the next 3 months.

I won’t go into detail this time around but the highlights for me have been; the Transalpine express which we took on mum and dad’s 40th Wedding Anniversary, driving from Fairlie to Queenstown, the entire road is full of exquisite views and the anticipation of reaching Queenstown, the shotover jet boat, beautiful Lake Wanaka, Whale watching in Kaikoura and generally the views at Kaikoura. The road from Kaikoura to Picton which has become my favourite stretch road having done it 3 times! Eating mussels at the mussel pot in Havelock & ice climbing up Franz Josef Glacier.

Having family here was a real comfort if not a little bit stressful at times which I am sure they’d all agree with! Now they have gone I am feeling quite lonely but it’s good for me to have to push myself to do things everyday. I have settled in a campsite just outside Christchurch in South Brighton.

I am in need of funds so have sent off my CV to a number of recruitment consultants and have an interview tomorrow morning with one. It makes sense to stay around Christchurch until the guys arrive on 20th October as it’s the biggest city on the South Island and should be relatively easy to get some temp work. It’s about 40 minutes by bike into Christchurch city centre and the campsite which I will call home for potentially the next 4 weeks is 100 yards from the beach. There are plenty of walks to keep me occupied and a pier to go fishing from.

There is also a wildlife reserve just behind me on the estuary which plays host to bar-tailed godwits from about this time of year until April. They are birds that make the longest non-stop flights of any in the world at over 11,500km and now I have them for neighbours!!

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Comments

[chloe]

bar-tailed godwits
I thought this was a slang term for drunk people till I kept reading. Loving the blog still x