Back to Chronology, Christchurch and beyond.

March 27^th 2016

Traveling from place to place does not leave very much time for sitting at the computer uploading pictures and writing the day's goings on.

We moved every few days and were driving a good deal of the time. Evenings spent finding dinner makings and eating, sitting, too tired to do anything else, watching TV. Only on the days we decided were a rest day, Nina going off on her own pursuits, would I do the computer work. So, I fell behind.

I am going back to when we were in Christchurch, with all the different things we did, other than view the wreckage of a city and see what had or had not been rebuilt.

Part of our enjoyment was to go on long bus rides. The traffic in the city has it's ups and downs as with construction narrowing of streets. Traffic jams during rush hours made wanting to use the car here a lot less interesting.

 The fun of the pop up city center, as we went to the bus station for our ride out to New Brighton Beach.

We took different routes and directions. One interesting ride was to New Brighton Beach. A long spit of land that closed in a large estuary. Swans, ducks and other birds were filling that estuary. On the sea side, the longest beach I have walked in a long time. The bus ride ended at the tip and we got off to begin walking back to the Brighton Beach Pavilion. The sea was busy crashing to the shore, various birds hunting the sand for shellfish. 

Cormorants.

Black swans.

This walk took us three hours.

It was during this walk that we found a sculpture garden. An active one. Tools, work tables, a chair. No sculptor. I already posted pictures of some of the other sculptures in an earlier.

We could see the opposite shore of the entrance to the estuary when we got off the bus. These are the cliffs that fell just recently during a small earthquake. The houses on these cliffs were already condemned, so the work of tearing them down was an ongoing activity. Again, the use of the empty shipping containers is in evidence, as a cliff and debris retaining wall.

By the time we reached the Pavilion, we were exhausted. Shopping in the small beach town resulted in some sorry sandwiches and great pastry. Our mutual love during this trip has been a drink called lemon lime bitters. Mainly used as a mixer I think, it is a most refreshing drink. Sitting eating on the upper deck of the pavilion, watching people fishing off the pier that juts out into the sea. It is about a quarter of a mile long. I don't seem to have taken any photos of this. Heat and thirst must have addled me.

On our third day, we headed out of Christchurch toward Akaroa in a rented car.

My sister wanted to see the Canterbury Plains. A visual similarity to Southern Ontario was her need. Nostalgia for flatness! Of course, you never get away from seeing the mountains in the background.

Our first destination was not the plains itself but this town of Akaroa. The drive to this town is reminiscent of the drive to Tofino, British Colombia. Narrow road that goes up and down at crazy angles, zips around corners with wild drop offs and faced with crazy drivers all coming from the wrong side of the road! But some very impressive views.

This was the highest point on that harrowing drive. Buses, motorcycles, all stopped to see the view.

We all stood quietly, looking around. Scale? White dots are sheep. 

We stopped at Birdling Flats on the way, just to see the ocean slam into the round stone beach. We got to see how tourists make life interesting, as in the two guys who had driven onto the beach in a family van and sank up to their axles in small round stones. Good towing business going on there.

Akaroa is on the Banks Peninsula. Apparently one of the few French strongholds at the beginning of settling parts of New Zealand. This is a cute settlement, all tricked out for the tourist trade. During the summer they have between one and three cruise ships come into harbour. Town is swamped by stunned looking people who have approximately six hours to “do” the town. So the place is quiet or jammed.

One of the three cruise ships we saw during our stay.

Early morning, tide in, on my way to coffee.

Coffee stop, beautiful view.

Our hostel. Quiet, not too bad kitchen facilities. A new friend, Emi, from Japan, traveling on her own. Brave.

Small lighthouse. 

 

Vineyards with perfect exposure.

Heron in a small creek.

Lavender. Lots of lavender everywhere.

We stayed three days and enjoyed some wonderful walks up into the hills. The weather was incredibly hot. 

 Our next step will be into the Canterbury Plains.