Coachman Backpackers Christchurch

We purchaced a 1985 Nissan Vanette from an Isralie couple yesterday and could not be more excited. This is Max's third car and Benny's second. It has a manual transmission and the gear shifter is located on the stearing column. Max has to reconfigure his body in order to shift down to fourth gear. The back is extra spacious with a matress and plenty of storage room. The Radically Immense Camping Koala, aka R.I.C.K., came equipt with a stack of maps, two storage bins, and extension cord, silve...

This morning I drove through the small settlement of Arthur's pass and over the impressive viaduct which was shrouded in early morning fog. Stopped at a lookout over the viaduct but couldn't see a lot, I was joined by five polite Kea's who didn't try and pull bits off my car which makes a change. They just sat on the surrounding rocks squawking. They were very tame, had a good opportunity to take a closer look at New Zealand's cheekiest bird. The road to Christchurch from Arthur's Pass is stu...

Christchurch, South NZ I have spent a week in Christchurch and it is by far one of my favorite places. It is a small city that at every corner has so much character. The city square and the art center fill up on the weekends with vendors. Selling food, jewelry, and artwork. Its such a quaint city that can be a little restless at night with some nightlife. I am lucky to spend as much time as I did here but now I must go, a new adventure awaits and that one is back in Auckland. I have found a j...

Entry containing 12 photos titled: 1. Christchurch - catherdral sq markets, 2. Christchurch cathedral, 3. Christchurch - cathedral sq, 4. Christchurch - cathedral sq, 5. Christchurch, 6. Christchurch, 7. Christchurch, 8. Christchurch, 9. Christchurch, 10. inside christchurch cathedral, 11. christchurch - early morning bike race, 12. Christchurch

New Zealand! Here we are! Where to start...... We've been here over 3 weeks now and love this place. It all kicked off with purchasing a car in Christchurch. It all seemed good - a station wagon (estate car to us!) it's a black 4WD Subaru Legacy and seems to be a bit of a racey model with lowered suspension, twin exhausts, alloy wheels and despite it's vintage-1993- it has some cool features like electric windows and cup holders and a CD player. It even has a POWER button for extra Ooomph goi...

CHRISTCHURCH, Feb. 5 -- Magic happened to me yesterday. Sometimes when there's magic, a person doesn't realize it until it's finished. You take a deep breath, and look around, and realize something special has just ended. But yesterday, I knew something special was happening at that Very Moment. It was Maori magic. Christchurch is even nicer than Dunedin. It's the most English of New Zealand cities, even with a river (The Avon) winding its way through the central business district, and with p...

Christchurch is the most English of NZ cities, it is also known as the garden city. The focal point is Cathedral Square with the main thoroughfares all named after English cities (Gloucester, Worcester, Hereford) radiating from it. These streets are crisscrossed by other streets named after English cities, Oxford, Manchester etc. Cathedral Square itself is a delightful open space given over to street entertainers and an over sized chessboard, it is also the main pick up point for the city tra...

Ok, so we've been in Christchurch since the end of August and have written, well, nothing about it!! Seeing as we are here for at least another month and I don't trust myself to remember everything, here's our Christchurch experience so far - in a nutshell...... When we arrived late on the 29th Aug it was FREEEEEZING! Luckily we had our warm coats and weren't wearing flip-flops - we made that mistake before in Melbourne! We stayed at The Coachman Backpackers right in the middle of town, a rea...