Christchurch (The New Zealanders Cambridge)

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We arrived in Christchurch after a really very bumpy flight from Oz - the last part usually is apparently, and we could see why when we landed and looked up at the beautiful mountains (note to self: must check thesaurus for more words to use in place of beautiful/awesome/amazing/incredible, we are going to need a lot here). New Zealand is stunning! OK Shelly and Butch we know what you have been on about now... everything is super-pretty and has a backdrop of little green hills that look like they are made of felt (covered in lambs as we are in spring awww), then one layer of dark mountains and then spiky snow-capped mountains towering right at the back.

Christchurch itself is lovely, very similar to Cambridge actually, and it is supposed to be the most English part of NZ. We spent 2/3 days there wandering about the place, up and down the river, in and out of funky little bars and restaurants. We realised after our first day there that our Oz gettup was not going to get us far in NZ and we invested in some snowboarding jackets (mmmm so warm) and another pair of Ugg boots for me (I promise to look after these better and not to wear them without socks!). Actually they are genuine NZ sheepskin, even more comfy and a fraction of the price of Uggs... but I won't go on as I'm sure you don't all share in my Ugg infatuation.

We chose a very central hostel which worked out very well. Although it was rather noisy, it was nice to be in the thick of it and we were rarely more than 10-15 minutes walk from where we wanted to go. Christchurch experiences included THE BEST pudding cafe in the world (Strawberry Fair - hopefully Rich will put a picture of our puddings up!), a gorgeous bar, barman and cocktail maker - in that order Lyme, 'H' and 'Freddy' - if you are reading this, thanks so much for your invaluable travelling advice and for all the yummy drinks, we miss you already 😉 In fact we had just been wondering how we were going to fit in all the things we wanted to do, and what route we would take in our campervan when we happened upon this Lyme bar and found H who turned out to be an ex Kiwi-Experience guy with all the pearls of wisdom we would ever need, and he immediately set about writing up an itinerary with us! Meanwhile Freddy (who is actually called James and I can't even remember why he's called Freddy now) kept us entertained and well-watered. So many thanks to the Lyme Bar!

Other experiences: more scrumpdiddlyumptious sushi at Maru and Mr Sushi (we are thinking of opening a sushi bar when we get home!), punting on the river (although we watched rather than took part, they don't do it as well as we do at home ha ha!), gorgeous crisp sunny days, Belgian beer by the river, cherry blossom absolutely everywhere, ducklings on the river - it was just so picture postcard. We loved Christchurch 😊

So then we picked up our campervan and headed on up the island... we will leave you with that for now but we are writing from Kaikoura, home of the marine life. We have seen whales and dolphins already this morning and are off to find some seals on the rocks now. There are about a billion seagulls in our campsite too, I am afraid they will get in to our campervan if we leave the door open! Scary things over here with bright red beaks and legs... anyway - more another time.

Hope you are all well and enjoying our travels with us, we are!!!!

Loads of love to you all, message us soon, we love hearing from you 😊

C&R xxx

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Photos

Cambridge and Oxford Terrace
The management have reserved the right to show the better of the two photos (sorry Tim)

Comments

[Mummy Ham]

Springtime fun
Half your luck! Christchurch looks gorgeous. Cambridge will always remind you of it, no doubt. We shall have to fill your boots with concrete when you get home or you'll always be off wandering....mind you, it's a gorgeous sunny crisp autumn day here, so no complaints today. Hope your camper van is nice?