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Published: March 19th 2010
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The Cathedral in the main squareHello from New Zealand!
We arrived into Christchurch on 14th March, after a fairly bumpy flight as the cyclone that has caused so much damage to Fiji was well on its way and struck the day after we left, with all island hoppers having to go back to the mainland. Suzanna had her boots checked by the guards as she appeared dodgy. Mark panicked for a short time as he was unable to withdraw money from the airport cashpoint, however after riding along the 7$ shuttle bus into central Christchurch he was able to access funds at another ATM. The hostel was fairly large, but not the 'Base' that the majority of backpackers travel to, so fairly friendly and relatively quiet.
After settling down and meeting our room mates we took a map and headed out to explore the city. Christchurch is a fairly small city, but has a large cathedral in the modern central square and huge botanical gardens that wrapped around the organised city grid system. We headed west towards the gardens, strolling past the cathedral to the Contemporary Art Museum which interested Suzanna. We reached the gardens which had a very bizarre 'installation' of a lawn
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lawn mower installation on the side of the botanical museum mower cutting grass vertically up a 20m grass strip.
We visited the museum that was attached, which seemed to be very British, set in cobbled streets with shops set in the 'olden days'. After strolling around for most of the morning we went into the parks and sat down surrounded by all varieties of blooming flowers. We then went into the greenhouses, containing banana trees and fly trapping plants.
We returned to the hostel to blog our Fijian experiences and had an early night, exhausted.
The next day we washed our clothes!!!! It was very exciting, and despite overfilling the machine and not quite using enough powder we managed to get the job done! As the sun was out and it was very hot we were able to hang out our clothes once we had breakfast. We then went for a walk along the Avon river through the city but were priced out of a punting session but were able to see a traditional Mauri dance including a Haka. We then came across to the Arts Centre, which was a college that had lots of exhibitions of art for sale and artist's studios. We visited the Mauri
gallery, which had some brilliant tribal paintings, wood carvings and warrior totem poles.
We had lunch in the square watching a milk box anarchist and a game of giant chess, before walking along the cobbled backstreets containing small coffee shops and boutique shops. We had lunch in a small bar, and feeling rather full headed back to base.
The next morning we awoke nice and early for our first expedition on the Kiwi experience. We boarded the bus driven by 'Ringo' and headed up the east coast to Kaikoura after having a short stop to look at the turquoise sea and seals bathing in the sun. The roads seemed to have enormous mountains on one side of the bus and views of the sea on the other. We again avoided the main hostel, staying in a really nice hostel called the Lazy Shag - named after a native bird - just outside the main town center.
We decided against swimming with dolphins and whale watching and instead rented bikes for the afternoon. We rolled through the seaside town that had small surf shops and cafes to the headland where we saw the seals. The hill top path
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the bridge of remembrance then became very steep and narrow forcing some of the team to walk. The cycle uphill was definitely worth it as the views of the sea, cliffs and the bays were fantastic. The going was fairly tough but enjoyable and after 45 minutes we headed downhill again, over the headland, to the marina. After consulting the map we headed along a main road back over to the town center and then to the supermarket to fill up on food including some very tasty cheap beef (they do not really eat chicken). We went back to town played some pool and then headed home feeling very tired.
We were picked up for the 'Big Green Bus' at 9.00am for the trip north to Nelson. On the route we stopped off to look at the baby seals that were playing on the rocks before reaching Nelson at around 3.pm. Nelson is a small port town with old roots that hosted the first game of rugby in New Zealand. We stayed in a really friendly hostel called the Prince Albert which was owned by a British chap and made ourselves at home. We had a short look around town and came back
for a not-quite-home-cooked-but-good-all-the-same roast dinner. As it was St Patrick's day, which as it turns out is a huge event in New Zealand, we turned Irish for the night and watched the Irish dancers and a folk guitar group with the locals.
The next day feeling ever so slightly sorry for ourselves we headed out into the fresh air and up towards the center point of New Zealand. This involved a forty five minute walk up to the point which had some great views of the town and port area as well as the mountains behind. We did a bit of shopping and got to know the town better before returning to our hostel and cooking up a stir fry before bed.
As we were only on the waiting list for today's bus, we couldn't get on and so we have another day in Nelson. We're hoping to get back on the bus tomorrow to get us to Westport.
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caroline and george
non-member comment
great blog
Hello both of you! Really enjoying your blog. Excellent way to keep in touch and enjoy your adventure. We also appreciate the e.mails and texts. As with Jenni and Joe on their adventure we are enjoying reading about events after they have happened, such as the snorkling with reef sharks in Fiji and we are glad you missed the cyclone. New Zealand is by all accounts very beautiful and it certainly looks so in your photos. Back home the weather has at last warmed up although it is dull with the promise of rain again today. We hear that Nick will be here at Christmas so when you see him in Sydney please tell him it will be too cold for a barbecue! Also, please tell Chris and Ian that we have at last booked to go to Florence in June. Looking forward to your next blog. Love from us all here. Mum and Dad /Caroline and George.