Lyttleton and New Brighton

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As we were yet to visit Christchurch Cathedral we decided that we needed to do that before we left the area. So we headed back in the centre and to the Cathedral before heading on to Lyttleton and then onto New Brighton where we were staying for the next 3 days. The Cathedral has some lovely architecture and beautiful stained glass windows but we decided not to walk up the tower as it was $7 each!!

We headed onto Lyttleton which is a small harbour town that is host to the second busiest port in the South Island - as you can see from the photos it’s not that busy!! We went up to the Timeball station which used to be used as an indication of GMT for the ships out in the harbour. When we got up there however it was closed due to the recent earthquake!! But it was a nice view anyway!!

So after lunch in the comfort of Dad and Sandra’s car in order for a reprieve from the wind, we headed back on the road towards New Brighton. After passing Reading shopping centre, through Richmond and Ascot we got to Brighton!! It was a lovely Campsite and Dad and Sandra had a lovely log cabin. We were in a great quiet area of the camp with the facilities right next to us. None of us had realised quite how close to Christchurch we were so realised that most of the things that were advertised to do we had already done!! So Mark and I went for a walk along the beach and into the town which seemed a lot longer on the way back than on the way in!! On the way along the beach we came across a Kite competition which had some massive ‘kites’ going up in the air. Though I’m not sure they can entirely be called kites as they weren’t being held by people but rather by 4 x 4s!! We then walked - or rather got blown along Brighton Pier! It all seems a little weird to see a lot of the names from the UK though we couldn’t be further away really!

The next few days in New Brighton were quiet, and the rain kept us inside for one of the days so we took advantage of the library’s free internet. It was nice to relax and get away from the relative bustle of Christchurch. We also spoke to a lovely couple who have been travelling around and living in New Zealand for a while who gave us tips on where to go. So we decided to head up to Kaikoura the following morning!

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Photos

Lyttleton
Second busiest port!

Comments

[Robert]

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Most of the area you visited is now destroyed http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4688231/65-dead-in-devastating-Christchurch-quake

[markandkeely]

We are in Dunedin and felt the shake - having watched the footage we know the areas that are damaged and are no longer the same. Our thoughts go out to all involved.