Day 1 - Gold Coast - Christchurch

Given how late I left packing for this holiday (who am I kidding – that is how I do things like packing to go on holiday) unlike Al who had things organised ages before me, this morning I was a bit like a headless chook at times – sort of felt like I was chasing my tail – going into rooms and forgetting why I went there.

K had to work and so was going to ask to do 10 min breaks which generally would mean she would be finished by about 1.30.  We got a message saying she was only finishing at 2pm.  We were already in the carpark (we were more than a little early !!!) – so we chatted and waited and waited and waited.  Poor bugger came running down the hill at about 2.45 – so upset because she was late but luckily we are understanding parents who have worked more than our share of jobs where we don’t control what time things happen.  We still had more than enough time to stop at Grill’d for a late lunch early dinner as we weren’t getting a meal on the plane.

She dropped us at the airport and said she wouldn’t come in with us – I had thought she would be keen to stay just to make sure we actually left but maybe she realised we were too excited about going and there was no way we weren’t going to leave !!!  Anyway, she kissed us, jumped in the car and headed off to two weeks at home with no parents nagging her to do anything (although I did send emails and sms’s reminding her about what she needed to do and to make sure that, whatever she did while we were away, was cleaned up, put away or fixed before we got back !!)

Waiting to board

Sunset as we are leaving

Our plane

 

We had an uneventful flight and were able to get exit row seats which is always good because of the extra leg room – in this case I wasn’t sure there was extra leg room to go with the responsibility of manning the exits but Al assured me that, had we been in the other rows, we would have had even less leg room.

We arrived in Christchurch about 20 mins early so picked up our car and headed for the hotel.  The lady at Hertz said that Arthur’s Pass was clear and that they weren’t expecting anymore snow until possibly the end of next week.  For some reason when she asked how many drivers there would be I said 1, so Al is going to have to do all the driving while we are here(which is generally what happens anyway but if for some reason he hadn’t wanted to drive, he was stuck driving anyway !!)

Our Rav 4 - a really good ride for us

The silver fern in Al's coffee 

We found our hotel without too much trouble – man, it was cold outside.  Think the car said it was 4deg outside !!!!!  The hotel was toasty warm although not sure what temp – said to Al that it would have been good to know how warm it was so that we knew what temp to set other heaters when we used them !!!!

We watched some of the Olympics and went to sleep at about 1am.

Day 2 - Christchurch - Fox Glacier

We woke up and looked out the window and it was misty and eerie and looked exactly like it had when we had been in Washington and been at the Vietnam Memorial.  Packed up the car and headed off to look for breakfast.  Found a centre called The Hub and stopped there.  Then came the fun part – trying to sort out my phone to use with the sim card we got from the lady at Hertz.  Well 2-3 hrs later and lots of frustration on my part – we finally left – still without any phone coverage.  This was totally my fault as I hadn’t done whatever it was that Al mentioned once in Australia as I had completely forgotten him mentioning said task that I needed to complete ! 

 View from our hotel window



In the car park

 



Al wanted to go to a DFO equivalent called Dress Smart – I wasn’t that keen because I wanted to get on the road – he won that compromise !!!  But we didn’t really shop around much – more like a quick dash through trying to find a phone shop (not successful) and so we went back across the road to The Hub for another try at sorting out my phone as they had free wi-fi in the centre.  At about 12 noon I said enough was enough and we left.

Drove past lots of paddocks surrounded by huge hedges – I remembered them exactly like that.  Drove past lots of sheep and the cutest little lambs (didn’t get any photos but on my list of things to do before we leave).  And then we hit Arthur’s Pass.  It wasn’t anything like we imagined – we imagine a pass through the mountains but it was actually a pass through the valley !!!!!  So really high mountains on one side and the valley floor on the other side.  I slept through part of that and woke when Al got to the West Coast and went to have a look at that ocean there.  Saw lots of lovely drift wood  - if only we could bring some of it home !!!!!

I love you too !!! 

 More driftwood

We had both forgotten about all the single lane bridges and how we can drive at 100kph on a single lane in either direction road – so strange when in Queensland we can only do 100kph on a three lane in either direction highway !!!!!

Stopped to put in petrol at Hokitika and the guy who ran the servo was from Pietermaritzburg, a town about 80kms from where we lived in South Africa !!!  We drove through Frans Josef and stopped at Fox Glacier and found accommodation for the night at a really lovely place called Westhaven.  They had undercarpet heating and this wee little heater on the wall which we thought wouldn’t be able to heat up the room but we were pleasantly surprised at how well it distributed the heat it generated.  It also had a really good sized bath so I made sure to have a great soak in it before I went to bed (I love a good soak in the bath with my book)!!!  We had dinner at Cook and Saddle – Al had ribs and chips and I had spinach and feta cannelloni before walking back to the unit (rather briskly as it was bloody cold) and hitting the bed after a great first day on holiday.

Day 11 - Dunedin - Christchurch

We woke this morning to rain – and that is what it did all day !!!!  I suppose we can’t really complain given the fantastic weather we have had since we arrived here.  We certainly weren’t expecting the good weather that we have had and we have certainly appreciated every minute of it.

We got up, packed the car and then walked into Dunedin to the Cadbury’s factory for our tour.  I cannot believe how manual so many of the processes are – I guess it keeps lots of people employed.  I also couldn’t believe the volume of chocolate that they produce each day / week / month / year – it was phenomenal  !!!!  We were given some chocolates and we bought some before we left – enough to keep us going until we leave the country I think !!

We left Dunedin in the rain and drove for 4.5hrs or so to Christchurch and arrived in the rain – it rained the whole way – definitely not used to that !!!

I am so thankful that we stopped at the Moeraki Boulders yesterday as it would have been bloody miserable going to see them in the rain today.  We had thought about going to Lake Tekapo on our way to Christchurch but with the weather the way it was, I don’t know that we would have seen much.  Between the rain and the mist we couldn’t see too much for most of the way anyway.

We found one night’s accommodation in Christchurch.  Tomorrow we are going to look around town and the drive down to Akaroa and possibly stay the night before heading north of Christchurch on Wednesday and then back to Christchurch on Thursday by lunchtime for our flight home in the afternoon.

We had dinner at Robbie’s – I had a chicken and bacon stack with mash and roast veggies and Al had a great steak and chips.  It was so filling I didn’t even have room for dessert which I was rather sad about as they had a lovely gingerbread pudding that I had already decided on before I had chosen my dinner !!!!!

After dinner we drove around Christchurch itself – so sad to see these absolutely beautiful old buildings that have been shored up or fenced off with signs saying they are now a demolition site – so very sad to see that architecture lost forever. 

We have had some really lovely accommodation on this holiday.  It has been so far out of my comfort zone – coming on holiday with only the first night’s accommodation and the timeshare booked – but it has been great because it has allowed us to change plans as things came up that we hadn’t thought of doing i.e. going to Doubtful Sound – definitely one of the high-lights of the trip.

Day 12 - Christchurch - Akaroa - Hanmer Springs

This morning we set the alarm and were up and moving before 7am.  Lovely man that I married heated the stainless steel shower floor up for me before I got into the shower – man it was cold before he warmed it up – thanks Luv !!!!  We drove into Christchurch – what a sad situation.  So many of the old beautiful buildings no longer there and in the process of being demolished.  So many empty blocks.  So many buildings fenced off and looking desolate and like a ghost town.  We couldn’t believe the difference from when we were here in 2004 – so very sad.  But, the locals that we spoke to all seemed really positive about the rebuilding process although one lady told us that she had spoken to two locals yesterday who had come into Chch for the first time since the earthquake in Feb 2011 and only because they had visitors from overseas who wanted to have a look around.

We went to a shopping mall that has been built from containers – it was amazing and a great concept for businesses to be able to continue trading when there is such a shortage of usable trading areas.  They join two 40’ containers together and put windows in – just amazing what people can do and made me think of the saying “Necessity is the mother of invention”.



 Loved the words on this ad

 Container mall in Christchurch

After that we stopped in at Westfield Riccarton before heading off to Akaroa.  We had planned on staying there over night but there were quite a few large landslides on our way over the mountains and Al was worried that there might be more if we had more rain tonight so we had lunch there, walked around the quaint little town and then got into the car and headed up to Hanmer Springs.

View of Akaroa Bay at lunch time

Al at lunch

Some of the visitors we had a lunch time

Helping himself to the sugar in the sugar bowl - so funny to watch and listen to

We found another lovely little unit and dropped our bags off before going into town for dinner and to check out the thermal pools here.  Tomorrow Al has suggested a relaxing day although I am not sure how that will work out – he wouldn’t know relaxation if it bit him on the butt !!!!  I really can’t see him spending a few hours at the thermal pools – maybe he will prove me wrong !

The further north we drove the more little lambs we saw – they are sooooooooooooo cute – frolicking around in the fields.  The smaller ones stay really close to Mom but the ones that are slightly bigger seem to be quite happy to chase each other around and butt heads together.  I got so excited every time we saw more lambs.  We had seen some when we left Christchurch on the Friday after we arrived here but the further south we went, there weren’t any.  I think it is too cold further south and those sheep are waiting for it to warm up before lambing starts !!!

Some of the lambs we saw outside Christchurch

Al has such a dry sense of humour and never ceases to amaze me with the one liners that he comes out with – without even a flicker of a smile from him most of the time.  When we were in Akaroa, we saw an old enamel jug for $40.  I remember we used to have one of those when I was growing up and I said I must remember to tell me Mom how much she could have got when she got rid of it as I am positive she doesn’t have it anymore.  (While we were talking to my folks about our holiday when we were back I told them about the jug and the bone handled knives and next minute she is out of her chair and comes back from the kitchen with ‘our’ enamel jug – she still has it so am going to leep an eye out for it in the future !!!!) Actually, maybe I should check in case she does still have it and can sell it and make some money on it because I reckon she wouldn’t have paid more than $1 with the exchange rate and inflation being what it is / has been !!!!!  The same as the bone handle knives that we saw yesterday for $50 for 6 – I am positive that my Gran had heaps of those – wish I knew what happened to them.  Maybe I should have asked for them as well as the Cheaper By The Dozen book that I asked for when Gran died – she always used to read it to me and I just loved the stories.

 

Views of Akaroa

 



Well two more sleeps before we go home and, while we have had the most amazing time, I am ready to go home now.  I want to sleep in my own bed with my own pillow.  The first 8-9 days I was sleeping pretty well but the last few nights I am back to my horrible sleeping pattern – hopefully I will have a good sleep tonight and a lovely sleep in tomorrow.  I am missing my on-line friends as well – feel a little disconnected not knowing what they are all getting up to and if they are all OK.

Day 14 - Hanmer Springs - Christchurch - Gold Coast

We woke this morning to the most beautiful day outside.  The sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky.  There was frost on our car.  The view from our room was unbelievable and something that we had not seen since we had arrived there due to the low cloud cover.  The mountains surrounded us and ranged from a lovely green to the snow capped mountains a little further away.  I was sorry that we didn’t have just one more day there so that we could maybe go up to the snow fields and play again but I suppose there would always be ‘just one more day’ that we needed to do something else so I will be grateful for the fantastic time we have had and the wonderful celebration of 25 years of being married to my bestest friend.

Frost on the car in Hanmer Springs

We got some breakfast from the local bakery and hit the road.  The drive to Christchurch was uneventful and when we got here, we went to the outlet mall called Dress Smart.  We did some final shopping there before going across the road The Hub where we got some sushi for lunch and then headed for the airport.  Got here and were just about to get out the car when Al remembered that we hadn’t filled up the car so off we headed again to do that before coming back, heading to the toilets to take our thermals off and then check in.

We were lucky enough to get exit row seats again (and, given it was probably the same plane only on the leg going the other way, I still wasn’t completely convinced that we had the payoff of extra leg room for the responsibility we agreed to take on.

We have just been through duty free where we bought 2 bottles of Amarula (the one we bought on the way out didn’t last as long as I thought it would !!!) and some charms for my Pandora bracelet to celebrate the amazing holiday we have had and the great friendship that we share.

To anyone who has the chance to visit the south island of NZ – take it and enjoy !  This country is so beautiful and scenic and no matter where we have been, the people have been friendly and helpful.  We couldn’t have asked for a better place to go on holiday and see all that we have seen and do all that we have done and go home knowing that we took all the opportunities that we could to do and see what was there.

K was waiting at the airport for us – I think we were probably more pleased to see her than she was to see us !!!  We stopped off to say hullo to the old people on our way home and chat for a little while.  It was so good to see them – Dad was looking well and seems to have recovered really well from the last lot of radiation treatment that he had.  Mom is Mom – the only difference seemed to be she seemed to have shrunk some more !  Alfie and Rosie went berserk when we walked in – they were both pleased to see us – certainly the unconditional love that people say you get from pets was noticeable – I think the welcome we got was more exuberant than when we are only gone for the day !  

We have now been home just over a week and it feels like forever since we were there.  I am so glad that I documented our holiday because I have had so much fun re-reading it this morning.  Now to go and post it all and add the photos !  I am trying really hard to get out of my comfort zone in a wide range of things so this holiday we went over with only our first night’s accommodation, the time share and our lunch at Fleurs booked.  It was a little challenging at times, not knowing where we were going to be staying that night but I managed it fine and it was great because it allowed us the flexibility to do everything that we wanted to do without being tied down to pre-booked arrangements.  It was hard but I managed which is the main thing.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading this and I was suitably able to describe some of the adventures we had.