2/24-2/26 – Christchurch and Canterbury
2/24 – We picked up our rental car in Christchurch and headed toward the rental property. We stopped at Woolworth’s (supermarket) on the way and bought dinner and a few other items for the next couple of days. Tonight’s dinner was snapper with rice.
2/25 – Today was a sightseeing day in Christchurch. We walked all over the city – almost 5.5 miles in total. We hadn’t realized how much of the city had been damaged and not yet restored in the 2011 earthquake. Our tour started with the Art Centre, which was one of the few historic structures to remain intact. We particularly liked the observatory, which is now a hotel. From the Art Centre, we walked up to Cathedral Square. This was probably the most disappointing of all the places we visited today. The Cathedral was severely damaged in 2011 and it was more than six years before citizens came to a consensus on what to do with the structure (constructed between 1864 and 1904). Then, it was a further five years before the site was deemed safe enough for humans to actually walk through the ruins. The current plans for the Cathedral look beautiful, but we have no idea how long it will take to complete the reconstruction project.
From Cathedral Square, we walked to New Regent’s Street, which is a two-block pedestrian area of cafes and restaurants. It was overcast today, and the weather didn’t lend itself to sitting outside, so we walked through the pedestrian area but didn’t stop to enjoy any of the offerings.
We made our way back toward the Art Centre where there were several food stalls selling everything from Greek to Belgium to Thai to German food. We chose a bratwurst from the German stall (the owner was from Berlin) and it took us back to our days living in Germany and the schnell imbiss where the wurst sticks out the end of the bread. It was quite tasty and we enjoyed it! Last on our city tour list was the Botanic Garden. The garden is huge and we saw only about half of it. The rose gardens and the conservatories are the highlights. Such a profusion of color!
We walked back to the car and drove out of the city to the New Zealand Air Force Museum. It was very interesting and was well presented – particularly the soldiers’ personal stories. Unfortunately, the museum closed at 4:30 so we only had about 45 minutes to explore – hopefully, we were able to hit the highlights. We were back at the house just before 6:00 and started to prep for dinner (chicken with broccoli and cheese rice).
2/26-2/28 – Westland
2/26 – We traveled about 275 km today along the Great Alpine Way (GAW), and across the entire South Island east to west. It took us about 4 ½ hours with several stops along the way. The landscape and scenery were magnificent!
The first stop was at Castle Hill, about 100 km from Christ Church. Castle Hill is “a scattering of hundreds of weathered limestone tors that erupt from golden tussocky hills. Officially called a karst landscape, these ancient rocks are smooth, sculpted, spectacular, and irresistibly photogenic.” (credit: https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/destinations/nz/105185858/world-famous-in-new-zealand-castle-hill-canterbury)
Next, we stopped at the eastern boundary to Arthur’s Pass National Park. The park lies in the Southern Alps; its “high mountains with large scree slopes, steep gorges and wide braided rivers straddle the main divide, and are the ‘back bone’ of the South Island (www.doc.govt.nz). The pass that State Highway 73 crosses is the highest over the Southern Alps at 920 metres (3,020 feet).
Final stop on the GAW was Otira Viaduct Lookout, also called Death’s Corner. The viaduct was completed in 1999 for $25 million. Despite engineering challenges, it came in on time and on budget. It certainly is beautiful to photograph. (Learn more at https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/117150792/awardwinning-otira-viaduct-near-arthurs-pass-notches-up-two-decades.)
We continued on SH 73 to State Highway 6, also called the Glacier Highway. We only had about 30 km left to our destination, and after a short stop at the New World Market in Hokitika for fruit (apples and bananas), we arrived at Mirror Creek Holiday Cottage. The property is nice – a studio apartment with a good kitchenette and a deck overlooking the garden. Dinner was once again chicken with broccoli cheese rice. No idea what we are going to have tomorrow!
2/27 – Per Lonely Planet, “hemmed in by the Southern Alps and the savage Tasman Sea, the West Coast forms almost 9% of the land area of New Zealand but contains less than 1% of its population. Our drive today certainly confirmed that. There were very few villages – mostly just mountains and rivers / creeks. We made numerous stops along the way; first in Franz Josef to look at the glacier and fill the gas tank. Then we stopped at every scenic pull off including Bruce Bay (where we stopped to share a sandwich), Thunder Falls and Fantail Falls. The scenery was really beautiful.
It was 4:30 by the time we pulled into the Wonderland Lodge after 7 hours on the road. Our accommodation is a rustic quirky a-frame chalet with wings (our words). Actually, it is pretty old and in need of updates, but it has a kitchen, a private bathroom, and a comfy bed, so we aren’t complaining. Dinner tonight was tortellini with our own pasta sauce with garlic, herbs, and tomatoes.
2/28 – After breakfast from the lodge café (breakie sandwich of egg and bacon with tomato jam), we got on the road at 10:00. The drive along Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea was stunning and we stopped at several overlooks for pictures and to take in the scenery. Our 325 km route took us through the Otago Region, which is home to New Zealand’s southern most wineries, and is also known for the gold rushes, which began in the 1860’s.
2/28-3/1 – St. Clair Dunedin
2/28 – We got to our apartment on the Esplanade in St. Clair / Dunedin just after 3:00. We passed a Four Square Market on the way in; as soon as we got settled, we walked 600 metres (~0.4 miles) to the market and there was a butcher shop right next door. So, we went to the butcher shop and bought a package of boneless chicken thighs and then went to the Four Square for wine. The sky was overcast and the wind was pretty strong with a temperature of about 60* – a bit too cold to enjoy the roof top terrace at the apartment. Fortunately, the apartment has two huge front windows that offer beautiful ocean views, so staying in isn’t too bad. We enjoyed watching all of the people, dogs, surfers, etc. The apartment has an amazing kitchen – the best of any place we have stayed. It was actually kind of fun to cook dinner tonight – baked chicken and leftover tortellini.
2/29 – We slept in this morning until nearly 9:00, when we were awakened by window washers. I said that the apartment has huge windows! Not sure how often they have to be washed – sure it’s pretty frequent – being right across the street from the ocean. We lingered over coffee and breakfast of yogurt and granola with fruit. Finally, at noon, we decided to go for a drive out on the peninsula. We went only about 20 km when the road became increasingly narrow – to the point where it was really a single lane on the cliff edge. So, we decided to turn around and return to town. Even on our short excursion, the ocean vistas were gorgeous. We stopped in at the restaurant that is directly under our apartment for a late lunch (http://esplanade.co/). We had a delicious sausage and mushroom pizza with a glass of wine. After lunch, we ventured to the roof top terrace but the winds were super strong up there, so we only lasted about 20 minutes. We spent the rest of the afternoon listening to baseball (we love spring training!) and enjoying the Esplanade view once again.
3/1-3/4 – Invercargill and Queenstown
3/1 – Today, we traveled south to Invercargill ~200 km. It was a pretty easy drive, especially compared to some of the drives across the mountains. We continued on, all the way down to Bluff, which is the southern terminus of State Highway 1, at Stirling Point (designated by the infamous signpost). We also drove up to Bluff Hill for the 360* views of the ocean and up the peninsula, back to Invercargill. Bluff is the oldest European town in New Zealand, having been continuously settled since 1824. Today it is a bustling port town and is well known for Bluff Oysters, a seasonal delicacy. It was overcast today and not the best weather for picture taking, so It ended up being a light day in terms of driving and sightseeing. We just took in the scenery along the way.
3/1 – We arrived at Milton Park around 3:00 and quickly got settled in. The cottage is set in a beautiful garden, and we enjoyed watching the birds well into the evening. Since we are so far south, it isn’t fully dark until after 9:00. Dinner was Thai leftovers. I love the easy clean-up (particularly since there is no dishwasher)!
3/2 – We left the cottage around 10:00 and went into Invercargill to take a stroll through Queens Garden; we also walked down to the Invercargill Water Tower, which is the city’s best-know landmark. Completed in 1889, using 300,000 bricks, the tower used to serve as Invercargill’s main water supply. Unfortunately, it is no longer open to the public due to concerns about earthquake safety, but it remains a great photo opportunity. Queens Park occupies 200 acres, including a Chinese Garden, a Japanese Garden, a Winter Garden / Conservatory, and an aviary, to name just a few features. We particularly enjoyed the aviary and the beautiful birds that call it home. We spent about an hour in the park, and then hit the dusty trail north to Queenstown. We took one break along the way, in Garston; we grabbed a coffee and were back on the road again.
After a few diversions at lookout points along State Highway 6, we arrived in Queenstown around 1:30, which was a little early for check-in. Luckily, our room was ready, and we got our stuff unloaded. Next order of business was lunch. We walked down to the city centre, along the waterfront but nothing was really striking us. Our original plan was to go to Speight’s Ale House – just like back in 2006. Sadly, it is permanently closed due to a fire last year, so we settled on the 1826, which was just across the street. We shared chips and queso dip, and cajun chicken fajitas. It was quite good.
We returned to the apartment to catch up on a few things and were pleasantly surprised to receive an email from Air New Zealand that our bid (think auction) to upgrade to first class on our flight from Auckland to Melbourne had been accepted. The flight is 4 hours in duration and the seats are fully lie-flat beds. We are so excited!
3/3 – Today was a day to regroup since we leave New Zealand tomorrow. We took the car out to gas it up one last time before we turn it in tomorrow morning. When we got back, we took a long walk along the lake front and into the city centre. We stopped at a small stall and got an order of Asian dumplings and vegetable spring rolls for lunch. Both were excellent! Then, we browsed in a couple of souvenir shops before returning to the apartment to organize our bags and to finish up some last-minute laundry. Our route was about 3.5 miles in total; the walk along the lake was particularly pretty. The temperature was a little cool when we started out – in the high 50’s – so we wore our jackets. But, once we got out in the sun, it was much warmer. Had to shed the jackets on the way back. Our refrigerator and pantry were both empty, so dinner was pizza from a restaurant across the street.
