Christchurch and Surrounds
Chloe Writes: We arrived off the plane into Christchurch at about 11pm. The temperature was noticeable cooler than Melbourne but we were ready for it so it wasn’t too much of a shock. What did strike us on the way to our guest house was how much it feels like England, maybe it’s because we haven’t been home in a while, but New Zealand is very green and the cities have a very European feel. We were also surprised to learn that a bank holiday weekend was approaching in celebration of the queen’s birthday, and were amused with all the ‘Queens Birthday Deals’ advertised on the radio by none other than the queen herself, I’m not even sure it was her real birthday.
Our first task was to find a house with wheels for the next 6 weeks. Due to the weather being much colder we decided to upgrade from our small 2 sleeper van in Oz to a 4 sleeper (the size of a 6 birth), motor home, and as it is winter, we got it at a third of the price. Being completely self-sufficient, with a toilet, hot shower, heating, cooker, etc… we don’t need to stay in a campsite. Much of New Zealand’s landscape was formed by volcanic rock, so wherever we have been so far we have been surrounded by lush green mountainous countryside. In the last week we have pulled up in the most fantastic places and nothing beats eating breakfast at the side of a mountain looking out onto endless secluded (well apart from all the sheep) rolling hills.
As part of this trip one of our goals was to visit Antarctica, in reality we don’t think we will be able to afford it (although never say never), so, whilst in Christchurch we did the next best thing and visited the Antarctic center. From here people who visit the coldest continent on earth for whatever reason can fly there. At the center we experienced an Antarctic storm with a wind chill of – 19 (nowhere near that of Antarctica), a ride on an Antarctic vehicle and we saw blue penguins swimming and feeding under water, they are so cute.
Pete Writes: During our walk around Christchurch I noticed that the super 14 rugby final (the southern hemisphere’s version of the Heineken cup) was being held there at that weekend. Still on a high from watching the AFL match in Melbourne we both decided that it would be too good an opportunity to miss. The evening began with a few drinks in the teams local with everyone wearing the ‘Crusaders’ colors, red and black. It was at this point that we realized that we had both come out wearing the opposition’s colors blue! After a few funny looks we downed our drinks and made a quick march to the ground to rectify the problem. After nearly fainting at the cost of the rugby shirts, Chloe came up with an inventive way of using red and black socks (as sleeves) and the cheaper t-shirts. We both ended up looking the part for a ¼ the price.
The game ended with a good result for the Christchurch crusaders, beating the Waratahs from Sydney by 10 points. Although to be honest we can’t remember much of the 2nd half due to too much merriment!
One attraction we were tipped off about was Christchurch’s wildlife park, which we decided was best visited on the day of the rugby rather than then day after! (very good idea) The park had lots of unique attractions, with my highlight being walked into a cage with 19 other people then driven into the middle of the Lion’s enclosure whilst the keeper then proceeds in feeding the lions. It was a real buzz standing there as Lion’s jump all over the cage and fight with each other to get the food, I swear at one point they were even pacing around the truck looking to see which one of us looked the tastiest. Luckily we left in one piece! After leaving the Lion’s we headed to the giraffes enclosure to climb a platform to be head height with them so we could feed them too! It was comical the way they stick out there long tong and wrap it around the branch (that you hold) to pull off all the leaves, leaving you standing there with a bare stick!
Page Gallery
Backpacking…yeah right!
Christchurch
Our house
A home cooked roast dinner at last….yummy!!
Chloe on an ice slide at the Antartic center
Us just before the storm
Swimming Penguins
At the wildlife center
Hungry Lion
Otters – very social animals
Tui Crusaders – they must have been freezing!
Just before the game
Shags (a type of bird), we think
A nice view
And another
Tags: New Zealand
June 6th, 2008 at 8:49 am
Hello guys,
Pete you sooooo need a shave, sort it out!!
Did you get my email? I’ve got another picture to send you (it was done today).
The weathers getting quite nice here now - such a shame to see it cold for you (at last - hee hee hee).
will try to call you at the weekend,
take care
Kirsty xx
June 7th, 2008 at 9:55 am
and how many bags was Chloe carrying…………
all the mod cons in the van - you can now see why we like the caravan!
June 8th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Chloe had 2 bags!
Can deffinately see why you like the van! It is going to be hard to give it up :o(
June 12th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Hi , So you are getting used to the cold. I’ve just come back from Italy and have swopped my white skin for brown so you are not the only one’s with a tan, but I can see that yours is slowly fading.
That roast dinner looks yummee I bet it was New Zealand lamb!!!
Be cosy in your new Z home.
Love Mxxx
June 25th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Hi Kirsty,
For some funny reason, when you send us comment it goes into the spam folder so it takes us a while to pick it up. Since you posted this, the beared got beardier but it also got chopped, thankgod its taken 10 years off of him.
lots of love xx