New Zealand - Full of zeal

July is here and Matt and I are finally ready for Christmas (2011)!  Probably has a lot to do with our recent trip to New Zealand.  We hadn’t needed a coat or seen snow since early last year.  It was a truly breathtaking to see again.  It’s also possible that our Christmas spirit was enlightened while watching some old holiday episodes of our favorite TV show, “Chuck”.  Season 5 is finally on its way via the recently wed Jim & Jodi Fisher!  Congrats, guys!

Lake Pukaki

Back to NZ, properly pronounced EN-ZED.  Really there’s entirely too much to see and do in a weekend.  We were told by our friends who’d spent weeks there, that you could easily spend a month there and still not see everything.  For a two tiny island, they really are quite substantial.  I knew straight away in coming to Australia, that if there was one place I had to go before we went home, it was New Zealand.

The hardest part of planning our trip was deciding which island to go to.  North Island, known for its adventure and outdoor activities probably wasn’t the best idea for someone who is 6 month pregnant, so we opted for Christchurch, South Island.  Plus – it was the only major city that wouldn’t take two days to get to from Bowen.

Despite the fact that it was clearly their off-season and there were still some places like the museum closed due to last year’s earthquake, I can easily say we weren’t disappointed.  Honest, we have over 500 pictures to prove it!  I don’t think there’s a spot on the island where you can’t see the mountains.

Day 1: Coastal & Lake Drive


View Larger Map

We decided to spend the first day just enjoying the scenery offered to us.  We drove down the coast, making plenty of stops to enjoy the waves.  They were enormous!  Here some shots from a spot where we pulled back around because the waves were so large you could see them from the highway.  It’s near a little town called St. Andrews, marker B on the map above.

We continued on towards the coast snapping pics of mountains and coast as we went toward Waimate.  The brochures for a little diner looked promising all though in the end, there was no diner to be found.  A stop in an old timey candy shopped made up for the disappointment though.  I’m actually enjoying one of my peppermints just now.

The goal was to be at Lake Tekapo by sunset, but in truth I think we preferred the sites of Lake Pukaki better.  I’m sure you can see why as our views of Lake Pukaki had gorgeous mountain scenery behind the glass-like lakes.

But let’s not take anything away from the charm of Lake Tekapo, its beauty can certainly hold its own against anywhere else in the world.  There’s a small little church there called Church of the Good Shepard.  It’s a teeny little multi-denominational church.  The church was built to memorialize the pioneering sheep-herding families of the area.  There’s also a monument to the original sheepdog, clearly something NZ takes a lot of pride in.

Day 2: Christchurch

Day two was a lazy day.  We started out with breakfast at the Antiqua Boat Shed, a historic little spot right on the Avon River where you can rent a boat and punt down the river.  Sounds nice, doesn’t it?  If only it’d been a little warmer.

Canturbury Museum

Restoration of Christchurch

The rest of the afternoon was spent at the Ferrymead Heritage Village.  It’s this adorable little village hidden in an industrial area of Christchurch.  The houses and shops are all restored to their Edwardian splendor.  Again, it was the off-season so there were only a few volunteers working, but it worked to our advantage as they were extremely kind to us.  One of the volunteers was cooking on the old stove and invited us back into the kitchen to warm ourselves.  He informed us that the house we were in was fully functional and he even used to live there from time to time.  Many of the shops were closed, which was a shame because I’d have really enjoyed the little move theater.  We took a personal tour on the tram and the conductor educated us a bit about the old trolleys they’re working to restore.  If you’re interested in more about the town here’s a link with pictures of their tourist season http://www.ferrymead.org.nz/photo_gallery/

We had found out the All Blacks rugby team was actually going to be playing in Christchurch that night against Ireland.  Just a bit of history, we arrived in Australia at the height of rugby season last year and the All Blacks are our favorite team with Ireland being my second.  Unfortunately, the tickets were all sold out by the time we found out about the game, but we knew we’d have just as much fun if we found a nice pub.   Believe it or not, it was actually an Irish pub we landed in.  The place was packed to the gills with roaring fans.  We had a blast!

Day 3: Kaikoura Seal Colony and Whale Watch

Sunrise on the way to Kaikoura

Kaikoura is a quaint little town 2+ hours north of Christchurch.  It’s famous for it’s whale watching expedition as well as the seal colony.  We were scheduled on the 10:30a expedition.  When we got there to check in there was an “Extreme motion sickness warning”.  I don’t generally get seasick, so let me remind you all that the fact that I did get seasick on the sailing trip was in fact how I guessed that I was pregnant!  When the staff heard that I was expecting, they called the captain right away.  He preferred I either wait for the noon boat.  I can’t tell you how kind the staff were to us, they promised us that if the noon boat was still too bumpy they’d send us over to the Air Watch plane or refund the money. 

Lucky for us, wasting time in Kaikoura is easy to do.  We headed towards the famed seal colony to meet some interesting characters.  They were everywhere!  They completely blended in with the rocks and I nearly stepped on one before I realized just how many there were.

Time to head back to the Whale Watch tour.  The seas had calmed down enough that I was welcomed aboard.  In fact, I was welcomed a little too well.  When we were given instructions prior to boarding the boat, they asked if the lady who was 6 months pregnant would please pre-board and sit towards the back.  It ended up being a good day for whale watching, as we saw 3 of the regular visiting sperm whales.  The crew were excellent as well, warning us when the whales were about to head back down so we could have our camera’s at the ready to catch the tales fly.  For anyone that want to visit NZ this is definitely a do-no-miss!  http://www.whalewatch.co.nz/

On the way home, we stopped to enjoy the waves last time.  Despite the fact that it was barely 30F outside, there were a handful of surfers out there catching the waves.  Matt stood outside in the cold for nearly 30 mins just watching and taking shots.

Before I conclude my trip, there’s just one more thing I want to make note of.  We stayed at the most charming little hotel, Heartland Cotswold (http://www.heartlandhotels.co.nz/hotels/heartland-hotel-cotswold-christchurch)  It was beautifully furnished and old fashioned in style.  Not to mention it had not one, but the two best restaurants we’ve eaten at since we left the states.  The lamb shanks at Tudor English restaurant were to die for.  St. Germain, the French restaurant served me the best steak I’ve ever eaten in my life.  When they brought out the plate, I was a bit nervous at this grey crusty looking thing.  But then the waitress scraped off about a ½ lb. of salt to reveal a gorgeous filet.  It still makes my mouth water thinking of it.  If it wasn’t so darned expensive to get there, I’d go back to NZ just for the food.

And since we actually took over 550 pics, I didn't want to torture you all with so many pictures so we're trying something new on this post.  Here's a link to the 130 favorite photos I've already shared with friends and family on Facebook.   Facebook Photos