The drive from Hanmer to Kaikoura was another stunning one. It's impossible to get sick of the views here.The weather was promising to clear up but even with our late (8am) start, it was still rainy in Kaikoura. We drove out to the peninsula, hiked up the hill and walked along the cliff for beautiful views of the sea and tons of seals.
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| Kaikoura |
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Seal Nursery in Kaikoura
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| Seal Pup in Kaikoura |
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Afterwards, we loaded into our trusty car, which we call "the Pony" or sometimes "Rhino") and drove North about 25 minutes to a little path called Ohau stream/waterfall walkway. And it was the HIGHLIGHT of my day! After a short walk through the forest, we arrived at a waterfall which doubles as a seal nursery!!! There were heaps of seal pups splashing and playing in the water, climbing on rocks, barking, sparring, flinging sticks, etc. - learning all the needed life skills. I suddenly became very interested in what I previously considered lazy, boring animals. The seal pups were absolutely delightful!
We talked to a park volunteer and learned that seals can actually be dangerous if you get in their way. Even the babies can bite off a finger. I didn't need to bother them and test their teeth; just watching dozens of seal pups enjoy themselves was extremely satisfying! Once we got too cold to keep watching them (I would never have gotten bored of them), we boarded out trusty steed and drove South down the East coast to Christchurch.
We booked a room in the
Dorset House, a charming, Victorian built in 1871 and (as everything in Christchurch) refurbished in 2012. After settling in, we went for a jog in the nearby Hagley park and botanical gardens. After stopping at the i-Site for information about Christchurch, we ran down tree-lined paths, through a beautifully smelling rose garden, crossing streams on cute little bridges, returning to Dorset house feeling great.
We power-strolled through town, stopped at an Indian restaurant for dinner, and then continued on to explore. We found a whole lot of construction and ruins from the terrible 2011 earthquake. The next morning, we explored the rather lousy Canterbury museum. Then, dashed for a quick bite at a
burger place that turned out to be a perfect find with really interesting and awesome vegetarian "burgers"! In the afternoon, we went for a
walking tour and learned all about the history of Christchurch, the earthquake, and the reconstruction plans. The tourgroup was just us and a nice couple from UK (Brexit jokes, English imperialism jokes, etc.) so it was fairly customized.
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Christchurch Dyslexia Garden
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The city is badly damaged buthas been rebuilding at a pretty fast rate this past year. They have spent a fortune preserving and repairing their oldest buildings to maintain the original look of some of the city's historic (relative term) charm. We visited a fancy English style perp school that had a Harry Potter feel. We walked past a garden devoted to raising awareness about dyslexia, which we both appreciated. The tour continued, showing us the battered, the restored and the new. The 2 post-quake highlights: (a) the city is now covered in impressive street art and (b) the transitional cathedral, made of cardboard, concrete and shipping containers (which cost $7 million NZD). Eventually, we stopped at memorial, which I found pretty powerful, of empty chairs dedicated to the 185 lives lost in the earthquake.
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Christchurch Earthquake Memorial
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After the tour, we stopped at a cafe in the ReStart mall (made of colorful shipping containers) to warm up with hot chocolate. We stayed until closing and begrudgingly accepted (okay, we begged) free and tasty White Chocolate and Apricot muffins - perks of everything closing at 5pm! On our way back to our hostel, we stopped at a hotel and pretending to be guests, requested and received tiny toothpaste tubes. Loving the free things!
For dinner, we hit up a little place called
Thai Container, and is actually in a shipping container. The friendly (though contained) man recommended that we head up Dyers Pass for terrific night views of the city. The driving was tough (narrow, windy, dark roads), as was the navigation (dead ends, construction zones, broken traffic lights) but eventually we made it. The stars were beautiful but and the views of the city were pretty nice. However, the highlight of the evening was on our way back to town when we stopped at Pak 'n Save, the New Zealand Costco-Walmart fusion super market. It was awesome!
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Driving to Akaroa
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| Akaroa Harbour Cruise |
In the morning, we drove to Akaroa, a French coastal town at the end of the Banks Peninsula - 90 magnificent minutes from Christchurch. We found a hostel, explored the town and made our way toward the harbor for a nature cruise. The boat ride in the heart of an ancient volcano was absolutely stunning! In addition to the blue-green sea, green mountainous terrain, cliffs, caves, and waterfalls, we also saw tiny dolphins, seals, albatross, and a really cool pidgin.
After the boat ride, I went for a walk up the mountain and inland for really pretty views of farmland and a higher perspective of the sea. Later, we made dinner and went next door for a beer. We watched The Dictator in the lounge, cracking up the entire time. The nice thing about knowing the movie so well is that we would start laughing when the scene changed in anticipation of the hilarity ahead.
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Akaroa Harbour Cruise
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| Akaroa Harbour Cruise |
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She Chocolat in Governor's Bay
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We started our final day in New Zealand with a seaside run. The hostel kicked us out of our room so after showering, we got dressed in the freezing cold courtyard. It was also filthy and an all around
horrible hostel. We drove the Banks Peninsula, stopping along the way to admire the scenery and walk around. We drove out to Okains Bay, where there was a pretty little beach and cave surrounded by cliffs. Then we drove through the mountains to Little Akaloa for more beautiful views of the farmland and sea before continuing on the beautiful Summit Road back to the main "highway." [Note: "highway" is used loosely in NZ.] We stopped in a tiny town called Little River for lunch and then continued on to Birdlings Flat, where we went for a challenging stroll along a rock beach. Then, we drove through Governor's Bay, stopping at
She Chocolat for beautiful views and the second most decadent hot chocolate (the most decadent I've had was in NYC), and then drove through the port "city" [again, a term used loosely] of Lyttelton before returning to Christchurch.
It has been a FANTASTIC trip and I feel so filled with gratitude to have had this opportunity. Now, off to meet my honey!!! I love you, Josh! Can't wait!
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| Birdlings Flat, NZ |
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| Akaroa |
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| Akaroa |
We started our final day in New Zealand with a seaside run. The hostel kicked us out of our room so after showering, we got dressed in the freezing cold courtyard. It was also filthy and an all around horrible hostel. We drove the Banks Peninsula, stopping along the way to admire the scenery and walk around. We drove out to Okains Bay, where there was a pretty little beach and cave surrounded by cliffs. Then we drove through the mountains to Little Akaloa for more beautiful views of the farmland and sea before continuing on the beautiful Summit Road back to the main "highway." [Note: "highway" is used loosely in NZ.] We stopped in a tiny town called Little River for lunch and then continued on to Birdlings Flat, where we went for a challenging stroll along a rock beach. Then, we drove through Governor's Bay, stopping at She Chocolat for beautiful views and the second most decadent hot chocolate (the most decadent I've had was in NYC), and then drove through the port "city" [again, a term used loosely] of Lyttelton before returning to Christchurch.
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