Akaroa Country Cottages

... of Christchurch (if there is such a thing)!

Before getting to the Peninsula we called into Christchurch for a quick scoot around. We'd heard people describe it as a very English city which was well worth a visit. Well, the Art Gallery and the Cathedral were pretty cool but apart from that it's just like any other place. We therefore decided to head straight down to the the Peninsula.

The plan had always been to hole up down here for 3 or 4 ...

so in reality, we are now in akoroa, which feels like the coldest place on earth right now, thus explaining why i'm in an internet cafe rather than exploring the most french town in new zealand! while in 'blog land', we are currently in the ulura kata-jutu national park, which appeared to be the warmest place on earth at the time! anyway, i only have 20 minutes before my only sodding $2 coin runs out so i'd better get a move on! so, sean and i had decided on that day that ...

Today, I had a tough decision to make between going surfing or sea kayaking, but I chose sea kayaking since I have never kayaked before. We traveled to Akaroa which was about a 2 hour drive; it is a harbor village with a French flavor. Unfortunately the weather was cloudy, windy, and a little rainy, but 5 other people and I decided to kayak anyway (out of 4 vans of people). We didn't kayak for long since the waves were ...

... accommodation, explored a bit, spent some time laying in the sun at the side of the lake (another beautiful warm day!) before retiring to our motel to have our first home-cooked meal for - we can't remember - but a long time! Day 41 Today we drove via the Haast pass to the Glaciers - Fox and Franz Josef (in that order). We stopped off a few times at waterfalls and beaches ("Haast" beach - which looks a lot like a Scottish beach) before arriving at Fox Glacier ...

... When we got to Greymouth we had a lunch stop. Daddy went shopping for snacks, while the rest of us went for a walk along the riverfront. It was really beautiful. As we were walking back to the train station we met up with Dad who had bought some awesome food for snacks on the train. We got back on the train and headed back to Christchurch. On the way back we all got to the viewing platform and we all ...

... satisfied we went for a scout around town and went for the cheap option of drinking on the streets as it's legal in Queenstown. Later on we were given some vouchers for cheap drinks at a bar where a funky band were playing ... female lead was awesome! Lois flung herself around the dance floor as usual and tried to get me up but as I am not yet feeling that confident I chose to guard our drinks instead. Next morning we left Queenstown with the feeling that we would ...

... and ate it outside in the morning sun while gawping at the surroundings. Omahau Downs was definately my favourite backpackers so far in terms of setting and character. Before I set off, the manageress had come over for a chat and suggested I take a slight detour off Highway 8 on the way to take in some often overlooked views of the area. This involved taking a back road past Lake Pukaki that eventually met back up with the Highway and on to Lake Tekapo. I was up bright and early ...

... which was the main reason for the trip. The Captain said we would try the same place as they saw the Dolphins on the previous day. We were all straining our eyes trying to see if there were any dolphins about but no luck at first. The Captain moved us to a new spot and sure enough the guy in front of me shouted that he could see one coming our way. It turned out to be two dolphins traveling very close together. They came very close to the side of the boat ...