Savaged by Sea Lions

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Got up fairly early to get packed for a 6:45 shuttle to the airport. Made it in good time as the Sydney traffic was not too bad at that time. Had a good check in and just managed to be at the front of the worst of the queues. Spent a few hours wandering around the airport before boarding the plane. The journey was only 3 1/2 hours and we ended up going through another couple of timezones so did not end up landing until 2:30 pm. No TV on this flight - Air NZ could learn a lot from Singapore Airlines!

NZ from the air into Christchurch looked really green and well laid out especially after the dryness and vastness of Aus. Straight away for both of us - almost before we had landed it felt very familiar and very comfortable; almost like a home from home. Think we are going to enjoy our time here! Got through customs OK, well once our walking boots had been fumigated (bad smells probably) and we got the bus down to Christchurch. The hostel is in Cathedral Sq and was a great central location - hostel is called Base Backpackers and is really good - think they have them at some other locations as well.

We headed out into the town, but it was close to 5pm so everything was starting to shut - we did find a couple of outdoor shops to get hold of a tent, but most seemed a bit expensive. Did find a cash converters (like a 2nd hand store) but it was closed - will pop back in the morning and hopefully get a tent - we did spy one through the windows. Had a curry at a place attached to the Base Backpackers but it was not up to much. The food was not very spicy and the service was really slow - was not worth spending our sparse dollars! Went back and listened to the band in the bar for a while, before heading for bed - it was early here, but felt like about midnight to us!

After a good nights sleep we headed out onto the streeets of Christchurch to hunt out a tent and the rest of the equipment for the rest of our stay here. We had some great luck in the 'Cash Converters' shop and managed to find a two man tent for $120 (40 GBP) and some pans for $5 ( < 2GBP). Did need to 'acquire' some tent pegs from another one though as ours did not have any - very good job we put it up before we left the shop otherwise it could have been a bit of a shock!

Had to get back out to the airport to pick the car up which was a bit of a pain - but they did not have a city centre pick up point. It ended up taking a bit longer than we expected and we did also take out the improved insurance; Paul hates this stuff as they always ping you - but there is no third party insurance here so it seemed safer to take it - only 5GBP per day and means we can nuke the car and not worry about it! Also got a picknic set from the hire company which included crockery, cutlery and a cool bag, so we should now be fully sorted out for the rest of our time here. Drove back to Christchurch to finish the rest of our shopping and had lots off fun trying to navigate around the Cathedral Square - lots of one way roads. Picked up a new swimming cossie for Beck as the old one had given up in Aus.

Gathered up all the stuff from the hostel and loaded the car up before heading off to get some supplies from the supermarket. Had initially planned to drive about 1hr to Akaroa, a beautiful peninsular with lots of wildlife, but by the time we were sorted it was a bit too late and we ended up just finding a local campsite. We stayed at the Meadow Park Top 10 holiday park. All the campsites here are much better set up than at home - most have kitchens, good bathrooms, TV lounges, BBQ's etc.

Fgured out how to put the tent up, and then headed over to the BBQ area to have a Brit style BBQ with fleeces, hats, gloves and beer! Very gratefully accepted some leftovers from a German couple who were going home the next day and gave us their leftovers. Really noticed the drop in temperature here from Sydney - gone are the boardies and thongs - on with the boots, fleeces and hats. Bedded down in the tent thankful for Thermarests and four season sleeping bags - our plan did make sense after all; well worth dragging them to the otherside of the world. Paul was very envious off all the others in their posh campervans - nice and warm - oh well at least we saved a few quid!

First night in the tent - it was a bit noisy and cold - we are next to a main road. Neither of us slept particularly well; Bit of a change from sleeping in beds in Hotels and Hostels - think its going to take a while to get used to this. Had a good breakfast and Bex discovered the delights of rifling through the leftovers box of free food they seem to have at all the campsites - never one to pass up a freebie! Decided we needed some pillows as we're going to be camping for the next month so stopped off at a local branch of Warehouse (Where everyone gets a bargain - apparently!) also ended up getting some rash vests, for under hire wetsuits as it's likely to be cold here and we are hoping to do a few watersports.

Drove over to the Christchurch Gondola - we have planned to do a ride up in the Gondola and then can mountain bike back down. Managed to find it ok - with only a few wrong turns - we are navigating from free tourist maps, which are a bit sparing in some of the details of an area. The Gondola ride was ok, with good views down to the valley and the sea just beyond. The bikes were rented from a local company and a car and trailer met us just a short walk down the road. The route down was about 16kms with about 10Kms off road. Was a great way to spend a few hours and we only needed to ride uphill for about 20 minutes - nice! Did make us feel a bit bad when there were some local guys riding up hill as we were going down - don't think they were up for the gondola option!

Drove down to Oamaru and were planning to see the Yellow Eyed Penguins, which nest on the beach close to the town. Unfortunately we arrived at 6:30pm and the tour did not start until about 8:15pm (Those with camper vans had dinner in the carpark - we were not quite as capable!) after the late night last night we did not have the energy to make it out and back so had to abandon it in the end. Founded a camp site and made a Thai Green Curry with some delicious creamy monkfish - the curry made the other residents cough as we were making it and it was really strong - made our noses run - good curry paste! Ended the day watching 'It's me or the dog' in the communal kitchen. Beck loved it - was about a naughty dog who kept humping its owners family and friends - another quality UK export!

Got up and took down the tent before having a good breakfast. It did not rain thankfully the previous night, but the inside of the tent was wet with condensation. Started the drive down to the coast towards Dunedin, stopping off at a place called Moeraki - a small hamlet known for some boulders on the beach. They are spherical and look really eerie - apparently were food baskets from a Maoris canoe - they made really good photos! Popped into Fleur's Place for a cup of tea - it's a local cafe/restaurant which gets good reviews in the book and the food did look amazing. Rick Stein apparently rates it for the seafood dishes so we are sure Paul's Dad would love it.

Wandered up to a Whaling station look out point - was used by the European settlers to spot the Whales in the local bays, but they were hunted to extinction - a very sad story. Walked around the coast to try and find the seal colony, which we did not but did find one fella swimming around in the water. Stopped and watched him swimming around for a while, during which he chased off another interloper - did not seem too friendly. Paul then decided to get a bit closer to take a couple of photos which is when it all went a bit wrong! The beach was very rocky and the sea lion (as it turned out!) did not want anyone else there. We got down onto the "beach" but it did not seem too fussed at first. After a few minutes when he seemed settled, Paul got a bit closer to take a photo. The sea lion was not happy and lunged surprising quickly at him, Paul slipped and landed on the camera, scrambled to his feet and got out of the way. Thankful for just a cut knee! Sea lion then proceeded to sprawl all over the rock where Paul had been standing looking very superior. Sea Lion 1 - Camera 0. It was completely knackered. Dented ego intact we got off the beach and drove the rest of the way to Dunedin. Managed to find a camp site OK and did some shopping. Paul bought a new camera and Beck got some new pimped up sunnies - Paul got the cast off Oaklies back again. Dinner was a BBQ at the campsite, after which we decided we needed some Baileys for our hot chocolate - to try and keep us warm - but all the bottle shops were closed - off to bed without; must remedy this tomorrow.

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Photos

Paul in front of our new home
Looking very relaxed with beer in hand!

Flame grilled!
Paul in boy heaven

At the bottom of the gondola
Having taken the easy way up!