Back in Christchurch
Trip Start
Oct 01, 2003
1
16
43
Trip End
Jul 29, 2008
Christchurch,
New Zealand
Saturday, November 13, 2004
On our trip back to Christchurch from Kaikoura, we ended up trying to save a little money and taking a shuttle versus the train which I wouldn't recommend--a big bus would have been good but we ended up in a little shuttle van hoping that we'd be alive at the end of the journey. The roads are very small and windy getting out of Kaikoura and our driver was going like a bat out of hell. I can hardly believe that people bicycle on those roads and live to tell about it.
We made it back in one piece to Christchurch to get Ron's tattooing done--he spent a total of about 5 hours in the chair and got some really nice work done. He added another koi and finished up his dragon tattoo, they're both pretty impressive looking and quite affordable for tattooing. Thank you to Southern Ink Tattooing
ron's tattoo after
!After the tattooing was finished, Christchurch was eventually getting a little boring (lots of eating out, walking around the beautiful gardens etc.--which, don't get me wrong, was great). So we decided to take the train to Greymouth which ended up being really a good time.
The train ride was awesome, very comfortable with great scenery...kind of expensive but worth it. Once we arrived we settled into a very cool Backpackers (Neptunes). Then we headed out to see the Monteiths Brewery for a tour and beer sampling.
The next day we hopped onto a very nice bus (Intercity) to Punakaiki and the Pancake Rocks. We stayed in a Backpacker that was located right on a gorgeous beach. The view was awesome--we walked around and explored most of our day, seeing the sandy beaches and jungle-like forest. The day we left we checked out the Pancake Rocks and a really cool, kind of spooky cave..we'll definitely go back next year for longer.
We got lucky on getting back to Christchurch, staying again at the Stonehurst--they gave us a great big room and it's a nice end to a wonderful time. I think we ate 4 meals at a place called Little India which had awesome affordable meals--each accompanied with a nice glass of Mango Lasse (highly recommended).
Back to the states for the next entry!
