Windsor Court Motel Christchurch

... eyed penguins, which at this time of year are nesting and so spend most of their day out at sea getting as much food as possible, before returning to the nest at dusk. We arrived full of hopes and excitement and went to sit in the penguin hide on a cliff face. Here, we met a nice Scottish man who was an official penguin spotter for the local conservation agency. He told us there would be no chance of us seeing any. Bum! But then he pointed out one that was hiding in the cliff face ...

... fumbling around the botanical gardens being young light and camera ambitious. It was a great afternoon which was concluded by the only happening bar in town. The Dux de Lux was packed while the rest of the streets seemed almost ghostly. The beer was brewed on the spot and admirable. The food was not bad either and the whole process ...

... time in Millenium park at the auditorium there where a latino band were playing. There is also a lovely sculture of a giant bean in the park. Its huge, and made of stainless steel i think. Everytime you looked at it you got a different reflection of the city and the people around you. So simple, yet brilliant. We went out for dinner that night to Ben's favourite sushi restaurant. I had cooked chicken!!!!! Cori had the following day off so we went ...

... on day and wouldn't take any money, then the vinyard owner gave us the keys to his flat in Christchurch for the weekend and his wife baked us 2 big cakes through the week which we really appreciated. Before leaving we even managed some to purchase some wine at staff rates! It was good fun but hard work and after all that stooping over we were ready to retire from being grapepickers and get back to the traveling!

... saw Hot Water Beach, where you can dig a hole int he sand at low tide and thermal waters from under the sand flow into it, and you have your own spa pool - I'd been there before and the water had never been that hot, but it was boiling when we went this time, too hot to stand in so you had to mix in sea water to cool it down. We also saw Cathedral Cove (a huge cave you can walk the whole way through to another beach) and Hahei beach which were both stunning, and the weather was ...

... on a map really I know!), where we shall try and cram 5-6weeks work before Beccas buddy arrives! Hopefully this will be fruit thinning leading into cherry picking, as cherry picking is really quite lucrative if done correctly. We then have about 20days with Maddie (the last 5 just us 2 again) to explore the rest of the south island.

Next! We will try and get some apple work just for 2weeks, before we shoot over to Melbourne Australia for a week to see Becca’s bro ...

So after a long day trip for our last day in Aussie we said a final farewell to the Steph and had an early flight to Christchurch! Arrived and made our way to the city on a bus like proper travellers.....hostel seemed nice and had booked into the Sanctuary Girls only dorm to get away from smells and snoring,ha! Saw some friend we had made in ...

... CA, so we figured there was no need to buy. We tried to stop at Daniel Shuster wines. The woman pouring at Pegasus had suggested it even though the guides we had consulted said by Appointment only. When we got there we got even more puzzled. As we arrived around 4:15 PM, the sign said open daily 10-5, but there was a closed sign on a chain across the driveway into the winery. Go figure.  With that one sour note, we made our way out of the Waipara valley and on to Kaikoura

... were so sick of tourists that they try to avoid them at any cost. Once we arrived in the city, our options for housing proved to be very limited. It seems that during the Holidays season every New Zealand family packs its home in an RV and, together with thousands of Germans, Brits, Japanese and Chinese, flood the tourist areas of the country. Add two Romanians into the mix and you have a terrible shortage of camp sites and motel rooms; plus all ...

... all about moas (not just flightless, but wingless) and about Antarctic exploration for which Christchurch is still the main departure point. We also visited the Antarctic Attraction which wasn't quite worth the dollar; their cold room didn't actually seem that chilly, it must be a very mild Antartica day!

Cathedral Square in the centre of Christchurch is where it all happens; unfortunately the Valentine's night music was cut short due to a torrential ...