Christchurch, Banks Peninsula & Hamner Springs

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It was a long drive from Arthur's pass to the Banks Peninsula, not too far from Christchurch, and the weather began to turn fowl again (should've stayed in the mountains). We had a bite to eat at a big lake which was bursting its banks, checking every few minutes to see how quickly the water was approaching the tyres before heading on to Akaroa, the main town on the peninsular. The drive, as usual, should have been scenic as we wound our way into the hills (the landscape is formed from two extinct volcanoes, so we actually were travelling up their sides) but once again all we got to see were clouds!

After what seemed like ages, we eventually descended into Akaroa where we were treated to sights of a bay and the quaint shops on the main street - nice after nothingness!It was mid afternoon and, despite having a town to explore, neither of us felt like doing it in drizzle so we made the decision to spend the time in the one caravan park in town. The 'Top 10' park chain, as mentioned before, are certainly not the cheapest places to park your van but I felt like I needed some comfort in the form of warmth from our rather noisy heater and a hot shower. Small pleasures! Apart from partaking of the aforementioned the time was usefully spent doing washing and reading/planning for South America, with the occasional tea break to gaze across the bay that on occasion appeared through the cloud.

The morning dawned bright and sunny (with only a hint of cloud over the neighbouring hills) so made use of the facilities once more (showers, kitchen, fresh water) before heading into town. Akaroa is a small place but attractive with its wooden fronted buildings and well kept streets. It is almost in two sections: one part being where the shops for general commodities are alongside the museum and tourist office, and the other being the quayside area for tourist trinkets trips into the bay and beyond. The town is popular for its dolphin watching trips (amongst others) and people are shipped in from Christchurch and afar in the high season - nice and quiet for us though.

We parked the van up and had a pleasant stroll along the edge of the bay, stopping at a small jetty and a pier for a couple of nice photos. Continuing along we discovered an old relocated wooden lighthouse which provided further views of the bay before retracing our steps to the library for some free internet (gotta get it when you can!). Having exhausted the 'sights' of the town, we were content to park by the lighthouse for a couple of hours, having lunch and reading while the sun bathed us in its warmth - for a change.

The wanderlust returned in the early afternoon and we ascended he hillside again to embark on the scenic route around the peninsular that takes you along the ridge of the hills affording views of many bays etc. Will we ever learn? Not long into the climb and we were slap bang into cloud again - where it comes from I really don't know! We struggled on for a good half an hour before deciding to head down into La Bons bay, thinking that maybe we could find somewhere free to camp and try our luck on the route the next day.

The cloud cleared as we approached the beach but our luck for a free spot was ruled out by our favourite signs, so we chose to park and take a stroll along the rather attractive beach instead. Rocky cliffs hemmed in the expanse of sand and framed it well against the incoming tide of dark green sea. As we reached the far end we were amazed and pleased to discover that the exposed rocks in the sand were covered in mussels! The close we got to the sea, the bigger they got and it was all we could do to fill our hands (and arms) full of the glorious black and green beauties (avoiding fast approaching waves) and get back to the van. I only dropped a few! After our poor success at mussel hunting on the north island, finding them unasked for here was a bonus.

As there was no chance of spending the night where we were, we headed out of the bay and re-embarked on our 'misty journey'. To our great relief we discovered a large layby a little further on that would be safe enough to park on. So, as Warren read I de-bearded and scraped the hoard of mussels ready for our evening meal (took blooming ages!) which was much anticipated. Once the task was complete it only took a short time to get them steaming onto our plates....and they were GOOD. Fresh from the sea and with a hint of brine they were a real treat - and free! It made for a contented evening I can tell you, made better by the unexpected view of a bay that appeared as the sun set. Perfect.

Mornings are obviously the best for panoramas on the Banks Peninsular as when we awoke there was not a cloud in the sky. We made short work of the remaining part of the scenic route (it was nice, but not spectacular) and then headed for Lyttelton. As we drove along the south side of the peninsular ( only one main route in/out) we were presented with a stunning vista of the southern alps again, covered in snow - a sight we agreed we could never get enough of. This disappeared as we crossed the neck of the peninsular and edged our way round the inside of the second drowned volcano which now held Lyttelton harbour.

We passed some rather nice houses in the surrounding villages - obviously a desirable place for Christchurch workers to own property - before getting to town. Lyttelton is only 12km south of the city and hold a busy dock area before climbing the hill, with shops and housing staring into the bay. It was a peasant place for a quick stop and some internet, although we timed it well as we were not there 2 minutes when we were descended upon by parents and babies! Stuck on a pc hemmed in by at least 20 parents was quite a scary experience, but when the started singing baby songs accompanied by a scratchy recording.......oh my - what a loud experience!

Leaving Lyttelton we drove across the hill to Sumner, the seaside resort for Christchurch. Obviously geared for holiday makers, it had a plethora of eateries and holiday homes but his did not detract from the lovely each set amongst the craggy hills (from which nice homes precariously clung). We had a fun climb on 'Cave Rock' - a random hulk of stone that sits on the tide line and is being eroded away underneath but still supports those who wish to get 'up top' for a slightly elevated view of the beach - and then bought some supplies. Lunch was had by the water at Redcliffs, another commuter town, then it was into Christchurch for our first taste of the main city on the South Island.

The drive from here into Christchurch was short and once in the city centre, we were amazed at how small the city actually is. We parked briefly in the central square and ran into the i-site to ask a couple of questions before heading to the botanical gardens for a stroll around. It turned out to be a nice little park with some huge eucalyptus leaves and an indoor hothouse growing some more tropical plants.

We ventured out of the city to find somewhere to camp, unable to justify staying in the local top 10 holiday park and headed north in search of a spot. Alas, there was nowhere and we ended up driving for much further than we'd hoped before turning off towards Mt Thomas scenic reserve and parking in a secluded spot away from the main road for what would be our last night in the van. It turned out to be the coldest night yet and we awoke to a ceiling that was TOTALLY caked in ice a mm or so thick, along with the windows and teatowls we'd hung outside. It was obvious that another cooked breakfast was in order, both to warm us up and to allow us to wait until the sun had risen a bit to defrost the van. I aided in this be scraping the windows down with the chopping board for lack of any de-icer and it worked quite well. As this was becoming more of a regular occurrence we decided that it was probably a good thing that we'd be leaving NZ in the next few days for warmer climates.

The van started with a hesitant rumble and we retraced our steps back down to Christchurch to explore the city a bit more thoroughly. We began with a stroll around the streets and a visit to the cathedral before looking in the art gallery and finally the university rooms where Ernest Rutherford had worked as a student. The city is full of attractive stone buildings that often look much older than they are - something that has been lacking in many of the places we have visited. It really was a pleasure to walk around them, most of which are in the main square, but even some of the skirting shops were well kept with an air of yesteryear about them. Overall we'd liked what we had seen of Christchurch. There are some more run down parts, but the majority of it is well kept and very presentable with nice parks and museums: a nice place to live. However, it was now time to head north again towards Leithfield Village where we'd be going to meet Moana's older brother Rangi and his wife Nikki who'd kindly invited us to stay with them.

Reaching the village, we found their house and were a bit nervous since I was only a distant-relative-by-marriage sort of thing, but both Rangi and Nikki were incredibly nice people. We had a hot shower whilst Rangi was finishing working on his boat and then we had a chat and told them both about our travels. In the evening they took us to their local pub which was quite atmospheric, with a lively crowd and exposed wooden beams giving it an almost British feel. We chatted some more about the European cruise they were going on and told them about a few more of our travel adventures like the trip to the Karni Mata rat temple in Bikaner. Nikki had prepared a delicious roast for us which was in the oven cooking, ready for our return from the pub, followed by a few more drinks before heading to bed (a proper bed with electric blanket, a bit of a contrast from our previous night!).

In the morning we were up early and headed out toward Hamner Springs - a spa town in the hills that tourists flock to for the natural hot pools. The drive was very flat to start with but became more scenic as we headed in land. When we arrived at Hamner the place was heaving as it was the Queen's birthday weekend (a long weekend for the Kiwi's) and we had difficulty parking. We started with a cup of tea down by the river before exploring the town. The queue for the thermal pools was out of the door so we gave them a miss and instead spent our money on our last fish'n'chip lunch in NZ.

There wasn't a lot else to do in the immediate area so after lunch we headed back along the road to a lookout point and relaxed with a view of the gorge & mountains for a while before starting the big task of cleaning out the van ready to hand it back over to the rental company. We drove back to Leithfield late afternoon and chatted to Rangi & Nikki for a while before they went out for a meal for a friends birthday leaving us to relax enjoy all that TV has to offer.

In the morning Nikki cooked up a scrumptious cooked breakfast and I had a chat to my Uncle David on the phone. We said our goodbyes to Rangi & Nikki before heading back down the road to Christchurch (yet again!) Our first port of call was checking into the hostel we'd booked for our last night in NZ and dumping all of our stuff. We then drove down to south Christchurch and found the Escape rental office and said goodbye to our faithful travel companion Franny the Van-ny (real name Hector - nowhere near as fun!).

The weather was cold, wet & very windy so we caught the free loop bus up in the direction of the hostel and the last 5 minute walk from where the bus dropped us made us not want to leave the hostel for the rest of the day. It took us ages to sort out what we' be keeping and what we'd be getting rid of before packing it all back into our rucksacks- something we hadn't done in a long time!

Our plan for the next morning was to walk down to the cathedral and catch the airport bus to the domestic terminal but having been spoiled by the warm feeling of being indoors, we couldn't face going out in the wind & rain so instead paid the extra $5 and caught a shuttle minibus that picked us up from the hostal. We met another couple from the hostal who were waiting for the shuttle and it turned out that we were both flying from Auckland to Chile (coincidence!) but they were taking a different internal flight from Christchurch to Auckland.

Christchurch airport is quite small and efficient, and no sooner were we in the door than we were checked in, got rid of our big bags and sat in the departure lounge playing on the free wifi (miracle, free wifi does exist in NZ outside libraries afterall!). The flight was just over an hour and was very comfortable, even surprising us with a complimentary snack and drink- not bad for $59 each. We touched down in Auckland and caught the free shuttle bus between the domestic and international terminal, although I almost didn't- Stacey got on and I was about to put the luggage trolley away when the bus driver closed the doors! I ran to the front of the bus and thankfully she let me in :-) Once again we checked in and sat waiting for our LAN flight to Chile, talking about the times we'd had here and agreeing that despite leaving much poorer, it was definitely worth it for all that we'd seen.

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