The city of Churches … and earthquakes !
DAY 1 – On route to Christchurch
After yesterday’s nice weather, we woke to strong winds and torrential rain. Added to our colds it wasn’t the greatest of starts and so the two would alter some of our original plans.
It rained most of the way back to Greymouth and as we headed inland but started to ease a little as we started the drive up Arthur’s Pass and over the mountains. Eventhough the clouds were low, the views were still pretty stunning.
The first part of the drive is through the Otira Gorge and Viaduct. Through the gorge there is a rock shelter over the road which was constructed to capture and deflect the rockfall from the cliffs above the gorge which had been an issue since the road was constructed. There is also a large “water spout” which collects the water flow down the mountain and expels it over the road into the river. The Otira Viaduct was finished in 1999 to replace a dangerous section of road that was prone to avalanches, slips and closures.
Getting over the mountain, the weather almost immediately changed. The mountains literally stop the rain and the lush rainforest on one side almost turns to brown fields on the other side. We stopped briefly at the Castle Hill stone formation. The limestone outcrops hold great cultural significance for Ngāi Tahu people. We had planned to do a walk here however with the cold, windy weather and our colds we decided against it.
We came across the town of Springfield and of course there is a “Simpson’s” reference – Big Homer’s Doughnut. It is located in the town park and was gifted to the town by 20th Century Fox in 2007 to promote the premiere of “The Simpsons Movie”.
We arrived in Christchurch late afternoon to mixed weather – showery one minute, sunny the next. It is our last stop for the tour and we have two nights here. We are staying at the Fable Hotel in the city. After dropping our bags, we went for a walk around town. We were in Christchurch 25 years ago with the kids however walking around did not bring back many memories for us. And after the earthquake in 2011, it is clearly evident the city had changed much since our last visited. We are not far from the cathedral which has still not been restored after the earthquake. I had a bit of a memory seeing it before however the area around it is certainly unfamiliar.
We went to the Riverside Markets and had a bit of lunch – a tasty pastie. We also went down to the river where the earthquake memorial is located and then went back to the hotel. We ended up having dinner in the hotel and had quite a nice meal – Adrienne had fish and I had a seafood ravioli.
DAY 2 – Christchurch and Akaroa
The weather was a bit cloudy when we woke and we had a slow start as our colds and coughing had kept us awake during the night. After breakfast we headed out of town toward the hills around Christchurch and had some great views over the city and out to the southern alps.
Although there was a little rain around, we then drove out to the coast at Akaroa. It is a picturesque location – a quiet harbour overlooked by the remnants of an old volcano. By the time we arrived – around an hour from Christchurch – the weather had improved to bright sunshine. We wandered around a bit however I think we were both quite tired and headed back to Christchurch.
We went for a bit of a walk back into the city centre and went to a restaurant near the river – Craft Embassy – for our last dinner. I had a great pub burger and Adrienne a lamb salad. And then it was back to the hotel to get our packing organised for our flight home tomorrow afternoon. We will have a look at the Botanical Gardens and the Quake Museum tomorrow on the way to the airport.
So that’s it – another great tour. I’m sure we will be back in NZ much sooner next time to fill in places we missed this time and see more !