New Zealand - Christchurch
Trip Start
Dec 05, 2005
1
66
124
Trip End
Ongoing
Where I stayed
Christchurch,
New Zealand
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
We arrived into Christchurch on time and checked into our hotel in the very centre of the city. Our accommodation, which we booked whilst in Australia, was the Oaks Smartstay Apartments on Cashel Street (PICS). The apartment was very stylish and comfortable and at $99 per night (35 GBP) it was great value, especially compared to the equivalent in any major British city.
We spent our first evening walking around the city to get accustomed to the layout and stopped for some al fresco dinner at a restaurant alongside the Avon River
001 View from plane NZ
. Our first full New Zealand day saw us wander around to the Botanic Gardens (pretty much the same as any other botanic garden - lawns and plants!) and then crossed over to the nearby Arts Centre. The arts centre is an old collection of buildings which house a number of artists' studios and galleries, all situated around a central 'quadrant' courtyard (PIC). Among the artists was a fascinating Maori workshop, which featured an ornate façade (PIC) and many intricate native works in both wood and bone. Outside, the Arts Centre jester played the fool and posed for a photo! (PIC)
Down the road from the Arts Centre is the Christchurch Art Gallery. We opted not to venture in but the exterior was probably far more interesting than the interior anyway. The modern, angular building with its huge stainless steel sculpture of Arcs and a waterfall were enough to get some great pictures, which we decided to be a bit creative with ourselves (PICS).
Back at the Avon River we spotted the famous punts alongside the riverbank and had the weather been a bit warmer we would have jumped aboard. Instead we plumped for a quick photograph (PIC) before heading over to Christchurch Cathedral
002 View from plane NZ
. The cathedral is slap bang in the centre of the city (coincidentally in Cathedral Square!) and dominates the area together with a giant vase-type construction (PIC) - built to mark the centenary of the city. While we were in Christchurch we needed to find a method of transport around the rest of New Zealand. As tempting as it was to buy a couple of pedal bikes and cycle around the country, we needed to be in Auckland by 27th January so this was simply unrealistic! A helicopter would have been nice but our funds would only stretch to the propeller! Roller-skates were also considered but there are too may hills! Our choices were basically reduced to either hiring or buying a campervan or a car.
Having searched through numerous hostel notice boards and internet sites we found that there wasn't that great a market for vehicles in Christchurch. We had calculated that renting a vehicle (either a van or car) would cost between $2000 and $6000 - money which we would never see again and simply couldn't afford to do. We had to find a vehicle to buy and our only option was to try the Backpackers Car Market.
The car market is basically a space for backpackers to sell on their vehicles before they head off to their next destination. We looked around the few vehicles there, hoping to find another Gizmo, but all we found were a few sleeper vans (without a fridge, sink, microwave etc), which were in pretty poor condition. Our options were depleting by the hour so we came to the conclusion that we would look at cars instead. One car in particular caught our attention; a black 1995 Ford Telstar Station Wagon for $2800
003 Oaks Smartstay Christchurch
. The owners, David and Tzeela (an Israeli couple), let us take it for a test drive - which the car sailed through so we booked it in for a mechanical test the same day. Meanwhile, another station wagon caught our attention which we also took for a test drive and suddenly had a choice to make. Eventually we opted to go for the Telstar as it passed the mechanical check with the only concern being worn rear brake pads. After a bit of bargaining we settled for a price of $2,600 - we knew this was slightly over the odds but we were confident that we could get a similar price when we sold it again in Auckland.
The following day we bought the car, insurance, breakdown cover and a host of accessories and equipment to make our journey more comfortable. Included with the car was a large nearly new 5-man tent, a punctured inflatable mattress, a gas stove and a fishing rod, among other things. Andrew tried to fix the mattress but in the end we exchanged the fishing rod for another mattress at a local 'Cash Converters'.
We were just about ready to get on the road, though we did need to try and get some new rear brake pads at some point in the not-too-distant future.
Our first trip in our new 'yet-to-be-named' vehicle was to the Christchurch Gondola (PICS). The gondola took us up to the peak overlooking Christchurch and the Banks Peninsula, including fantastic views over Lake Ellesmere and Pegasus Bay (PICS). From the base of the gondola we then drove around the mountainous scenic route through Sumner Bay to the top of the mountain where the gondola had previously passed overhead. The 'Memorial to Pioneer Women' gave an interesting viewpoint over the lake (PICS).
Comments
Hi
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from Bucharest Romania
dgs010243
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