Franz Josef Glacier – Greymouth

22 February – 25 February

Tuesday:

It’s still grey and rainy as we leave Wanaka and drive towards the Franz Josef Glacier.  The further west we get the more interesting the scenery: heavy forest and steep mountains. 

We stop off to check out a couple of waterfalls – unfortunately so does every other vehicle on the road.  This is one problem with New Zealand: it’s small and there’s only so much to see, so wherever you go there’s guaranteed to be at least 20 campervans pulled up already.

At lunchtime we find a pretty spot, but it’s no good.  We’re properly into sandfly territory now, and even dressed in trousers, shoes, a long sleeved top AND sitting in the car I’m driven to insanity by the little buggers. 

We arrive at our campsite in the late afternoon.  It’s only as we’re in the queue to check-in that we catch sight of the news and see that Christchurch has been hit by another earthquake.  We didn’t feel a thing.  Most of the evening is spent glued to the telly.  It’s heartbreaking.  Christchurch was a charming little city and chatting to the locals while we were there they were all so positive about how the city recovered from the last quake.  They were just grateful that no one had been killed.  Unfortunately they’re not so lucky this time.

Wednesday:

We’re up nice and early today as we’ve booked a guided day hike up the glacier.  We arrive at the office to get kitted up in our gear: waterproof trousers, huge raincoats, woolly hats and gloves, thick socks, boots and crampons.

It’s a short drive to the car park, then a 2km walk to the face of the glacier.  After a swift climb through the moraine we stop to put our crampons on and then we’re onto the ice! 

Our guide goes in front of us using his ice pick to carve out a rough track for us.  Before we know it we’re squeezing through ice walls

slithering through caves

and clambering over the ice. 

It’s brilliant fun, but cold.  The incessant soft rain doesn’t help, but as we’re on the ice I keep imagining it’s snowing not raining.  All of our gear gets put to good use. 

After a few hours of hard climbing we make it over the first ice-flow and stop briefly for lunch.  Our guide tells us that we’re lucky to get up this high – they haven’t had groups up here for a while. 

Our short rest break up, it’s time to start down.  We’ve all got a bit used to our crampons now and manage to move with a bit of pace.  As a final highlight of the day we enter ‘blue mist’: a crevasse that they’ve partially filled with ice so we can walk through it.  It’s beautiful and claustrophobic and exciting.

All too soon we’re off the ice and back on land for the short trek back to the bus.  It’s been a long day’s walking and we’re knackered.  Back at camp we find ourselves once again glued to the telly getting quake updates.  It’s only just becoming clear how much the south island relies on Christchurch: internet facilities, phone networks, banking etc are all disrupted, as are the supermarket supply chains. 

Thursday:

Today’s destination is Greymouth on the wild west coast.  We arrive in the early afternoon and get checked into Noah’s Ark hostel, where we’re given the zebra room.

I’ve become a bit of a fan of Monteith’s crushed apple cider, so I’ve booked us a tour of Monteith’s brewery later this afternoon.  After a short walk around town we head over. 

Monteith’s used to be a small brewery, but it’s been bought out by one of the big ‘uns (DBs).  You can’t help getting the feeling that this brewery has been kept open to keep the tourists happy, while the beer actually gets mass produced in Auckland.  Still, it’s saved some local jobs and kept a bit of history alive.  The tour itself is a little lacklustre until we get to the serious bit: tasting time.  We’re treated to a taste of all 7 beers as well as 2 ciders.  We’re then given the opportunity to come up and pour a glass of our favourite. 

And then (jackpot) our tour leader tells us to help ourselves to another and disappears for about 45 minutes.  Best brewery tour ever (although our heads weren’t that happy in the morning).

We get chatting to a young couple that live in Christchurch but have escaped to Greymouth for a few days to escape the chaos.  At their recommendation we find ourselves in a pub down the road for just a couple more, but then redeem ourselves by heading back to the hostel to cook some food and crash out.

Friday:

After a predictably slow start to the day we eventually get ourselves going and loaded into the car.  We’ve booked 2 nights in Greymouth but there’s not much to do round there, so we’re taking a day trip up the coast.  It’s a wild route, hugging steep cliffs and dramatic coastlines.  First stop is Punakaiki to see the blowholes and pancake rocks  (named because they look like stacks of pancakes). 

After a walk round to admire the weird rock formations we stop for lunch then continue up the coast.  Our next stop is Cape Foulwind to visit the local seal colony. 

We decide to call it a day and start the drive back.  After a brief scare from a decidedly fickle petrol gauge, we finally find ourselves back in Greymouth just in time for a beer in the garden before heading out for some food.  Quite by chance we find ourselves in Nick’s BEST restaurant ever.  He orders 3 different types of meat and has them brought out to him raw on a hot stone plate where he can then cook them himself.  He’s in heaven. 

My pizza is a bit less dramatic but just as tasty.   Bellies overfull we head for bed.

Te Anau – Wanaka

16 February – 21 February

Wednesday:

Leaving Invercargill we take the scenic route to Te Anau.  We stop to hunt for gems on gemstone beach, but give up when I realise that I wouldn’t know what a gem looked like if it wasn’t cut, polished and set in silver.

At Lake Manapouri we get settled with a picnic, then gobble it down at a rapid pace when the sandflies show up uninvited. 

Te Anau is going to be our base for exploring Milford Sound.  It’s a lovely little town set along the banks of the lake and it’s a gorgeous afternoon for a stroll by the water.  Later on I try to make up for my lack of running this week by going for one long run.  Bad idea, I spend the rest of the night trying (successfully) not to be sick or fall over.

Thursday:

We’ve booked to do a cruise around Milford sound today.  In an effort to beat the coach tours we’ve booked an early morning one, so we’re up and away at 6am to start the 2 hour drive there.  The scenery is gorgeous, with the sun not quite up yet and pockets of low cloud clinging to the valleys.  We stop at Mirror Lake just as the sun is catching the top of the mountains. 

Milford Sound is renowned for it’s rain but we’ve got lucky: it’s a bright, clear day.   It’s chilly though, with the sun struggling to clear the high cliffs. 

Our early start is well worth it: we’re the first boat on the water, with not more than 20 people on board.  The scenery is breathtaking

deep, calm water surrounded by mountains and sheer cliffs dotted with waterfalls.

We see a couple of fjordland penguins and some cheeky seals, and even get the chance to drink fresh water from one of the falls. 

Back on dry land we drive back the way we’ve come a bit then stop for the thigh-busting climb up Key Summit for spectacular views over the surrounding valleys.

It’s been a good day: tired but happy we head back to our cabin.

Friday:

It only takes a couple of hours to drive to Queenstown and we arrive about midday.  We get checked into our hostel, which has pretty good views:

  

We spend the afternoon walking around the town with a brief detour below water level to check out the fish (and deep diving ducks!):

After a few (too many) glasses of wine we grab a pizza and head to bed.

Saturday:

A little poke around on facebook this morning reveals more exciting baby news: John & Lou are now proud parents of Archie and Maisie.   I’m so excited I could squeak (and do).

Apart from that, the day is a bit of a write off.  We realised yesterday (when it started to rain) that our waterproofs were missing.  With a bit of mental backtracking we work out we’ve left them in Invercargill.  We’ve got 2 options: shell out for some new ones or do the 5 hour return trip to pick them up.  We opt for the drive, and that’s pretty much our day.  Luckily it’s a pretty miserable day weather wise, so we don’t feel like we’re missing too much. 

Sunday:

Freshly kitted out with our rescued waterproofs (although with the sun finally shining we don’t need them), we’re ready to tackle some of the great outdoors that Queenstown is known for.  We’re climbing Ben Lomond.  It’s a hard two hour walk just to get to the saddle, then an hour’s climb up this boy:

It’s a killer, but well worth it when we finally drag ourselves to the top.  We drink in the views and inhale our lunch, then start the walk down. 

It takes us 5 hours to cover the 11km return trip and our legs are feeling it.  Nevertheless, after a shower and a cup of tea we’re ready to head out into town again.  What started as a brief trip to do some shopping and make some phone calls leads to beer and, yes – again, pizza.

Monday:

We’ve had our one-day’s grace weather wise and it’s grey and rainy again.  We’ve planned to do the Rob Roy glacier walk near Wanaka today.  It’s about an hour’s drive over a dramatic mountain pass, then 30km or so of dirt roads.  Once we’re most of the way there we realise it’s not happening: the rain is getting worse and visibility is poor.  We’re disappointed, but our aching calves are not. 

We head back into Wanaka for a look round town, then head to our cabin where we use the extra time to try and do a bit of forward planning.

Janet adds: our new favourite lunch-time treat: cream of tomato soup warmed up on the gas stove.  How rock ‘n roll is that.  And yes, sigh, this is summer.

Oemaru – Invercargill

11 February – 15 February

Friday

We wake up to a cloudy, cool day, so it feels like a good day to be moving on.  We’re heading to Oemaru on the coast.  It’s only a couple of hundred kilometres and we’ve got time for some detours on the way.  

Stop 1 is to see a whale fossil.  It’s about 6km down a gravel track and to be frank, isn’t worth the detour.  Stop 2 is to see the Elephant Rocks (apparently the setting for Aslan’s camp in ‘The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe’ film).  Unfortunately that’s not worth the detour either.  It seems they’ll take a crack at turning anything into a tourist attraction round here. 

We arrive in Oemaru in time for a late lunch.  Despite the town’s picturesque historic quarter I’m struggling to warm to it.  This isn’t helped by the cold wind that’s blowing.  On the plus side, it has 2 penguin colonies: one of blue penguins and one of yellow-eyed.  You’ve got to pay to see the blue ones and being a bit cheap we head instead to the beach where the yellow-eyed penguins nest.  We’re a bit early in the day really, but get lucky and spot one fairly close up.

The sea lions draped generously across the rocks are entertaining too – when they can be bothered to move that is. 

We’ve booked a room in a hostel that’s a few kms outside Oemaru.  We’ve got a lovely big room, the place is almost empty and best of all: there’s a lovely dog, two cats and 6 cows.

 It’s brilliant.  At the office we’re given a map to another good penguin watching spot down the road.  On the way we stop to look at the ‘intriguing’ Moereki boulders.  Whilst the round stones are mildly interesting, our faith is waning fast. 

The penguins don’t disappoint.  We get holed up in a hide with our binoculars.  Again the cheeky sea lions and seals provide entertainment between penguin appearances.

We see a mum feeding her chick and Nick is very proud of his action shot of this fella:

Saturday:

It’s a quick hop to Dunedin and suddenly it seems like we’re back in the north of England – all grey, gloomy skies and imposing stone buildings. 

It’s a little city built on several steep hills and looks like it has seen better days – it could do with a bit of a spruce up.  It’s market day today and the town is heaving.   It’s ok as long as you stay well clear of the ‘world music stage’ (think badly played panpipes, didgeridoos and bagpipes). 


We tackle a bit of shopping (new, smaller jeans for a very smug Nick) then kick back with beer and pizza.  After a quiet afternoon at the hostel we take a wander through the now much quieter streets to get a couple of beers and what turns out to be the BEST Indian ever.

Sunday:

Another grey day and because Dunedin looks and feels so English we’re almost surprised by the 13 hour time difference when we skype family. 

We’re spending the day on the Otago peninsula – a wild, windswept place known for it’s marine wildlife.  Our first stop is Victory Beach, which is a half hour walk through farmland. 

It’s a beautiful, long beach but devoid of any wildlife while we’re there.  Back at the car we warm up with some soup.

Next stop is Allan’s beach, where we spot a few sea lions (even more entertaining was watching the tourists who hadn’t spotted the sea lions jumping a mile when one moved just behind them).

After a last stop off at Sandfly Bay we drive back to Dunedin.  We feel obliged to go and see what is officially the steepest street in the world.  It is, well, steep.

Back at the hostel we find ourselves reluctant to face the communal kitchen and somehow talk ourselves into a second trip to Little India.  Mmmm.

Nick adds: Dunedin has the look and feel of Scarborough, but I think I prefer Scarborough.  

Monday:

Finally the sun is out again.  We’re taking a scenic drive to Invercargill via the Catlins.  At Nugget Point we take some time out to watch the seals playing in the surf. 

Our next stop is a quick forest walk to a scenic waterfall,

then it’s on to Curio Bay where we spot Hector’s dolphins in the water and explore the petrified forest.  Everything is so much prettier in the sunshine and the beaches are gorgeous (although we’re still not braving a swim).

We’re finding that hostels and campsites are often booked up days in advance, so we’ve got to stay ahead of ourselves.  We get a bit caught out in Invercargill and have to ‘make do’ with a motel. 

Tuesday:

We’re woken in the wee hours with the brilliant, happy, exciting news that Ali and Andrew are now proud parents to Dusty Maria Laidlaw!  It paints the day in a rosy light.

Invercargill is a pleasant surprise, possibly just because we’re not expecting much.  It helps that the sun is out again.  Apart from a quick drive down the pretty main street lined with art deco buildings there isn’t much to do in the way of sight-seeing.  But we’re in luck: the trots are on, so it’s a day at the races for us.

When we get there we find out that it’s a double bill – the dogs are racing in between the horse races.  I take the dogs and Nick takes the horses.  My luck is slightly better and I finish the day marginally up ($1.70).  It’s a good day out followed by a quiet evening.

Janet adds: we’ve only been in New Zealand for a couple of weeks and already my i’s are turning into u’s and I’m developing a definite kiwi twang. 

Akaroa – Lake Tekapo

5 February – 10 February

Saturday:

We’ve ‘ahem’ run out of bread for breakfast, which is the perfect excuse (and not in any way manufactured) to return to our favourite café for poached eggs on toast.  They don’t disappoint.

We’re all packed up and checked out of the hostel.  First stop is the supermarket to load up on groceries and useful stuff.  Then we head towards Akaroa.   Again, it’s a lovely scenic drive.  Nick assures me it looks a lot like the Scottish highlands.  I’ve not been, so I take his word for it.

We stop for lunch on the banks of the harbour.  My obsession with weird fruits has led me to the kiwano.  It looks spiky and supposedly tastes like a cross between a banana and a lemon, with the consistency of a cucumber.   And no, that’s not a good combination.

It’s a short drive into town from there and we head for a campsite.  We’ve decided to take the soft route and get a cabin – we’re not sure that New Zealand weather is suitable for camping (in a little 2 man tent).  We’re out of luck though and all cabins are taken, so it’s camping for us after all.  On the plus side, the weather has turned good and we’ve got a couple of warm days ahead of us.  Also, the views from the campsite are pretty good.

After setting up camp we’re so hot we take a walk to the town beach for a swim.  The water is, to put it politely, bracing, but it cools us down.  I would’ve stayed in longer, but a cheeky crab pinching my foot chases me out.  Nick thinks it’s hilarious.

I squeeze in another little jog and then sit back with a beer.

Janet adds: score 1 for Australia.  New Zealanders seem to love their camping, but aren’t very set up for it.  Whereas the Australians are almost completely self-sufficient, we’ve had to queue for showers, stoves, sinks, tables, the lot.

Sunday:

We kept waiting for it to cool down last night, but it didn’t really and we wake up to another gorgeous day.  This is especially good as we’ve booked to go on a ‘swimming with dolphins’ tour.  I’m usually a bit sceptical about tours like this as I do worry about how they’re run and the impact it has on the dolphins.  This looks like a goodie though.  The dolphins are completely wild – they’re not fed or enticed over in any way. 

First things first though: we need to get kitted up.  Although it’s blazing sunshine and hot, the water is still COLD, so we need to be shoe-horned into 5mm wetsuits.  Once that’s done it’s time to board our boat and head out.  There are only about 10 of us, so it’s a nice small group.  We cruise about Akaroa harbour until we find some dolphins that seem a bit interested in us (rule 1: the dolphins must show a ‘positive reaction’ before we get in the water with them).  Then we all pile into the water.  We’re told to sing into our snorkels or tap our masks to make us ‘more interesting than seaweed to the dolphins’.  It seems to work and soon the dolphins are coming over to check us out.  These are Hector’s dolphins: some of the smallest and most endangered in the world.  They’re very inquisitive and charming.   I’d expected to see them from a couple of meters off, but they swim by within inches sometimes (although strictly no touching!). They take a particular shining to Nick, who seems to be surrounded with them almost constantly.  We even have a couple of penguins coming over for a look.  It’s a sublime, heart-warming experience.

After about 45mins in the water we’re loaded back onto the boat for a welcome hot chocolate before cruising into the harbour.

We decide to spend the rest of the afternoon on a scenic drive around the peninsula.  We don’t have a brilliant map and find ourselves almost accidentally in Le Bons Bay – it’s not your typical white sand lined with palm trees beach, but with it’s gorgeous waves and wild, mountainous setting it’s a serious contender for my top ten faves. We surprise ourselves by braving the water sans wetsuits for a fun splash around.  Nick finds it a bit less funny when his swim is brought to an end by a swift pincer to the foot from a passing crab.

We head back to Akaroa via Okains Bay (another lovely beach).

Monday:

Although it was lovely and warm when we went to bed last night, we both wake up in the early hours feeling a wee bit chilly.  Luckily it’s nothing that another layer of clothes, another layer of blankets and closing down the air vents on the tent can’t fix.  We’re snug enough to sleep well after this, but wake up to rain. 

As it doesn’t show any sign of letting up, we resign ourselves to getting packed up in the rain.  It’s not a major problem, but makes us think that we might want to get booked into somewhere with a roof for tonight. 

After a couple of false starts we get put onto the lovely Erin, who has a self-contained unit for us on the banks of Lake Tekapo, where we’re headed next.  It’s a good deal and close enough to explore nearby Mt Cook, so we book in for 4 nights. 

We drive via Christchurch to stock up on groceries and arrive in the late afternoon.  After a day of rain the sun is finally out and it’s a beautiful scene: the blue glacial lake surrounded by mountains (some snow-capped).

Erin is the perfect hostess – welcoming without being overbearing.  She offers us some fresh rhubarb from the garden.  When I admit to not knowing how to cook it, she returns a bit later with a freshly baked rhubarb sponge.  Then we sit back to admire the views from our cottage.

Tuesday:

We wake up to a bright, if somewhat chilly morning.  As we’re in an idyllic setting, I decide a jog along the lakeside is in order.    It’s not quite as idyllic as I’d imagined though, firstly because running is hard work and not much fun, secondly because within ten minutes I’ve nose-dived and severely injured my pride.

It’s nothing that scrambled eggs on toast can’t fix.  After a bit of a slow morning we climb up nearby Mt John for 360-degree views of the area.  It’s a good spot to stop for lunch. 

Have I mentioned that it’s beautiful?  We take the long route down and loop along the lakeshore back to our cabin. 

Janet adds: still trying to get my head around the weather here.  It’s warm and sunny during the day, but icy cold from about 5pm till 9am (even though it stays light till 8.30pm or so).  The clear night skies are something else though.

Wednesday:

We’re up and away fairly early today: driving the 100km or so to Mt Cook.  From about 50km away it dominates the horizon with its snowy peak.  As we’re not experienced alpine climbers we can’t climb the mountain itself and so make do with rambling round its base. 

We do the 3-4hr Hooker Valley walk, which takes us across 2 swing bridges and to 2 glacial lakes.  The scenery is stunning, but the path is a little too well trafficked for my liking.  Still, it’s another good spot to stop for lunch.

After a little rest we take a shorter walk to the Tasman Glacier lake for a different view of Mt Cook and to watch ice-bergs floating by.

Thursday:

Today we’re just plain lazy.  I do manage a quick run which goes better than the last one (i.e. I don’t fall over), but a large portion of the day is spent on planning.  Before we leave New Zealand we pretty much need to have our itinerary sorted all the way back to the UK, so there are a lot of distances to check and maps to play around with. 

In the afternoon we do take a stroll down to the lake for a swim.  It’s another gorgeous day and the water is inviting, but so cold (it is a glacial lake after all). 

When I finally get my head underwater it literally takes my breath away.  I’m doing alright though – Nick is convinced that his heart is slowing down and that he only needs to breathe every few minutes.  I do enjoy my swim, and enjoy even more the hour or so spent bringing myself back from the brink of hypothermia in the warm sunshine.

Tomorrow we’re leaving Lake Tekapo and heading back to the coast, but with a bed booked for the next 3 nights we can turn our attention back to the calendar and google maps.

Christchurch

30 January – 4 February

Sunday

We’re up early and off to the airport.  Cairns airport is tiny and quiet at this time of morning – but Australian airport staff are still the friendliest I’ve ever encountered.  The official at passport control even said ‘hope to see you again’.  Not looking forward to the intense questioning of the UK border agency when we get back.

It’s a 4 and a bit hour flight over to Auckland.  We’re liking Air New Zealand – good food and good films.  We also have an entire rugby team on the plane with us, which doesn’t seem like a good idea – it’s not the biggest plane!

At Auckland we’ve got to go through passport control and customs.  They’re a bit fussy about you bringing dirt (literal) into their country, so we declare that we have a used (and potentially dirty) tent with us.  The kindly gentleman at customs tells us that he’s going to mark it down as a new tent, to save us waiting in the inspection queue.   Which is lovely of him, until our bags get x-rayed and a colleague of his questions us further about our tent.  Not wanting to lie to him, we tell it is not new, which of course leads him to ask why we declared it as new.  Sigh.  A full inspection later we’re finally on our way.  

There’s just enough time for a quick refreshment break and then we’re on the flight to Christchurch.  This is a quick hour and twenty hop, followed by a taxi ride to our hostel. 

It’s about 10.30pm when we arrive (we’re now 13 hours ahead of the UK) and the ensuing search for food produces a breadbun for me and a big mac for Nick – the city is dead at this time on a Sunday.

Janet adds: after coating ourselves liberally with bug spray in the tropics, we don’t bother on our first night in New Zealand and both get bitten similar to the Port Hedland incident.

Nick adds: first MacDonald’s in over 18 months – it hasn’t got any better.

Monday:

We wake up itchy, but the good news is that the hostel we’re in are ‘upgrading’ us to their cottage across the road, which we’ll share with one other couple.  We take ourselves out for breakfast while the rooms are being sorted and are immediately struck with how cheap NZ is compared to Australia.  There’s a lovely café just round the corner where we get the best poached eggs on toast ever.  There’s a turntable in the corner playing old vinyl and lots of interesting reading material to flick through.

We spend the day wondering about the city.  It’s lovely and feels very English (with liberal dashings of ‘ye old English pubs’ on street corners). 

It isn’t exactly cold, but after the Australian heat the low 20s temperatures are feeling cold to us!  We’re going to need to toughen up.  We take a stroll through the botanic gardens and have lunch in the museum, then head to the shopping district where I simply MUST buy panda hoody 2 (apologies to those of you who don’t know panda hoody 1).

After dropping of our (my) shopping, we head out for a few drinks.  First stop is a Belgian beer café on the river.  It’s a great spot, but a bit chilly for outdoor drinking.  Then we discover the bars on Oxford terrace: many of them have fires built into their outdoor tables.  It’s perfect.  We get chatting to 2 local girls over a glass of wine, then head off for possibly the best Mexican ever.

Janet adds: never met people as friendly as the kiwis.  Still wondering what the catch is – surely they can’t genuinely be that nice?!

Tuesday:

It’s a gorgeous sunny day today and we catch the bus over to the Christhurch gondola, which takes you to the top of Mt Cavendish.  The views are gorgeous, and if Nick tells you I was scared and crying on the way up he’s lying (or I am). 

After drinking in the scenery we walk down into Lyttleton. 

On the way we bump into another ridiculously friendly local who’s got about 15 minutes of helpful info to impart.  It’s great that the locals love and enjoy their country this much: he seems to do this walk most days and has played impromptu tour guide to tourists more than once. 

We have delicious sandwiches in the courtyard of a local café then take the ferry over to Diamond harbour.  From there it’s a short walk through pine forest to a beautiful (but pebbly) beach. 

As we’re getting the ferry back the clouds pull over and the temperature drops.  When the bus gets us back into the city we head straight for a table with a fire.  What a brilliant idea.  After a couple of drinks we grab some food and head back.

Wednesday:

We’re having tea and toast in the garden this morning when we hear a rustling in the leaves.  At the age of 31 and after over 6 years in the UK I finally see my first (live) hedgehog, just taking a wander through the garden.  I’m so excited I startle him (her?) and he dashes off.  Needless to say a lot of my spare time after this is spent hedgehog spotting, but he doesn’t appear again.

After a slow morning we head into town to check out the bits we’ve missed so far.  We end up in the lanes around Litchfield street which are full of gorgeous micro-breweries, bars and cafes.  The sun is out so we have lunch in a courtyard in the sun,

then head back to the hostel to sort out a few practical bits and pieces. 

We head back to the lanes in the late afternoon hoping to catch happy hour in some of the interesting pubs. 

We have a fun time touring the bars and I even enjoy a glass of wine on a sofa in front of an open fire – outside. 

Thursday:

We’re picking up our car today, or rather: they’re picking us up!  We’re driven over to their offices where we take possession of an 8 year old station wagon (with a decent safety rating – a must after South Africa).  We’ve found a good hire company that does older cars with free 24 hour AA breakdown cover, no one-way fees and a free south-north island ferry thrown in. 

The afternoon is spent doing not very interesting things like grocery shopping, sorting out an internet dongle etc.

Janet adds: I had to snap and by running shoes today.  The ‘beer and nuts’ diet wasn’t really working for me.  Day 1 of the fitness regime starts tomorrow.

Friday:

My day does actually start with a jog – so far so good.  We pack up some lunch and go to check out the beaches of Christchurch.  First stop New Brighton.  The beach is long but the town is a bit rundown looking.  Also, volcanic sand sounds good but looks a little dirty.  The water is a tad chilly, but would be just fine on a lovely warm day. 

The afternoon is spent on a scenic drive taking in Sumner, Scarborough, Taylor’s Mistake and Godley head.  The scenery is gorgeous,

the polluted water signs on most of the beaches a bit off-putting. 

Late in the afternoon we head back to the hostel where we experience our first aftershock.  Christchurch has been getting them since their big earthquake.  It’s exciting, but makes you realise how terrifying a full-on earthquake would be. 

We cook ourselves some dinner and then take a late walk through town – we’re curious to see how busy town is on a Friday night.  The answer: busier than other nights but still pretty laid back, apart from the ducks!  I'm only mildly obsessed with ducks, and this is something that New Zealand delivers on - in numbers and variety.