Christchurch Top 10 Holiday Park

We were on the road by 6:30 AM for the five hour drive from Wanaka to Christchurch. We drove for two hours without seeing another vehicle. It was a cloudy morning, so the lakes did not look as blue as they did last weekend. We arrived in Christchurch in time to do some sightseeing. Christchurch is described as the most English of NZ's cities. We visited Victoria Park and watched punting on the River Avon. We walked to Cathedral Square, looked inside the famous church and watched the various e...

Here we are again - at the end, at the beginning. We're back in Auckland, having taken the Qantas island hopper from Christchurch this morning. We're currently sitting in the Koru Club (Air New Zealand business lounge -- yay free wireless!), noshing on the gourmet Kiwi snackage and waiting for our flight to SYD in style. But I get ahead of myself. Let's go back to where last we left you... The drive north from Fiordlands was smooth and uneventful, if slightly less stunningly beautiful than th...

I går kom vi hen til New Zealand. Det regnede rigtig meget, men vi klarede det. Vi bor i en dejlig camper som mor ikke kan styre. Mig og Anders sover over styrehuset. I morgen kører vi op til Magnus min ven , som også er på New Zealand. 11.-13. februar 2009

We have had a fantastic few days in Auckland staying with Les and Ken, they have looked after us very well, the food was fantastic and they did not seem to mind the zones of disaster that inevitably follow the children around! We are already planning our next trip to see them. ( Don't worry Les - it probably won't be for a few years!)

We all went out for an amazing meal on Sunday night to Paper moon and had some delicious oysters and calimari.

Yesterday we went to the beach and ...

Friday 10 October Christchurch S 43° 29.4' E 172° 37.1' Friday started fine, clear and cold. It was a beautiful day, but the cold may have contributed to the flat battery I found when it came to set off. I hadn't left the lights on and it had been fine previously. Jump-starting it only took five minutes, once the man from Reception remembered to come and do it (got distracted and went out to the bank!). I therefore drove for a good well and kept the engine going at photo stops. Eventually I h...

Saturday 11 October Akaroa S 43° 48.0' E 172° 58.1' Finally made it to Will and Debs'. Left the non-starting van where it was in the campsite and caught the bus down Cranford St to their bijou residence, in time to wake them up. After greetings, we walked into town and negotiated me a place on the bus to Akaroa, where the annual French Festival was being held. Akaroa is one a deep bay formed from the crater of a large volcano. A shipload of French colonists landed there in 1840, and although ...

Sunday 12 October Christchurch S 43° 29.4' E 172° 37.1' Having acquired a new battery early in the morning, I drove into Christchurch with the intention of visiting the botanic gardens. I called in at the museum at the entrance to the gardens, and spent the best part of two hours there, just in the Maori and Antarctic sections; I never got back to the intriguing shell house and many other parts. I recommend it. After a coffee, I went round to Will and Debbie's and spent a couple of hours on t...

Thursday 23 October Christchurch, via Diamond Harbour After a bunch of weekly chores, made imperative if Will is going to fit into the van, I did a short tour of old Oamaru. Old is a relative term, of course, but there are a number of significant 19th century buildings and events in Oamaru's history. It grew and prospered mightily in the gold rush days. Many large stone buildings built from the local limestone survive from those times and later, when the first shipments of frozen lamb left fr...

Saturday 25 October Bealey Valley To Christchurch The forecast including snow in the afternoon, we decided on a low-level walk while the weather held. This took us via the "Bridal Veil" path to Jack's Hut (historic remnant of the road being built) and then the Bealey Valley track. The first track had more ups and downs than expected, but is only about a mile and then the Bealey track takes you across a bridge at "The Chasm" followed by board-walks and easy paths to the river in the Bealey sid...