We’ve loved our little fly-by trip in Christchurch. New Zealand really is the most beautiful country, and we got our first impressive view from the sky as we flew into CC airport.
We had to wake up pretty early for our first full day in NZ to start the 3 hour drive to Kaikoura, where we were booked in to go whale watching at 10.30am. As a person, I’m known for being chronically late for EVERYTHING, so we left with about 30 minutes of extra time just in case, but when we arrived at 10, we were told that 10.30 was just the check in time, and we didn’t actually have to be there till 11. We took this as the perfect opportunity to have a little cat nap in the car. 45 minutes later we returned to the check in, where we took a bus to board the boat, ready to go see some whales!!
April is the exact wrong time to see whales in AU and NZ, because most whales have migrated to Alaska to snack on some krill, but male sperm whale live around Kaikoura all year round. The boat took us a while away from the coast, while we all kept our eyes peeled for dolphins, albatrosses and the occasional waving seal. The skippers were being directed over radio by a boat which had been tracking the whales during the morning, so it wasn’t too long till we found Tihaki, or, as Saf affectionately named him, Eric.
Once Eric had dived back down into the watery depths, there was a radio to say there was another whale not too far off. The boat set off in search while we found the ideal whale watching position from the top deck. I don’t want to show off or anything (I definitely want to show off) but after a couple of minutes, I spotted water spouting out of the ocean way off in the distance. I started pointing it out to Saf (increasingly loudly), which our host overheard and alerted the captain, who started off in the direction. I officially found the whale!! Just call me Captain Abab (maybe don’t.)
Once Muti Muti (a.k.a Jimi) had submerged, we turned tail to return to shore. On route, we discovered a pod of dolphins, who saw the boat and made a beeline for us. I love dolphins, they are the biggest show offs. They were racing alongside the boat, splashing about and squeaking away. Watching them was so much fun, we had the best time (although I probably should have changed camera lens. You’ll just have to imagine them).
Today was Anzac Day to celebrate the Australian and New Zealand armed forces. Having spent the last two mornings waking up at 5, we started off with a lie in, before a late breakfast. There were some extremely moving Anzac services being aired on tv, so we watched these for a while. Once we were fully awake and dressed, we drove a few streets away to a coffee shop, to make sure we were fully awake. From there we drove up to Canterbury Museum, which was amazing! The exhibitions ranged from early Maori tribes, to immigrants landing, to a room dedicated to the solar system and light energy. Did it matter that everyone else in the room was a child? Probably. But we had the best time anyway. On the other side of the sun room was a moving exhibit on WW1 soldiers from New Zealand. This contained letters, pictures and artefacts from real soldiers and their families left behind, as well as photographs and video footage of the war, and a street modelled on a road in 1910s England.
After another coffee break, we wandered around the centre of the city, past buildings and cathedrals that were still damaged by earthquakes. The streets were so charming, and a lot of the Victorian buildings were still standing so you could see what the town looked like before the earthquake damage.
From there we drove south to a small shopping mall called the Tannery, made up of original Victorian brick buildings. We arrived about ten minutes before the stores all closed, but it was still nice just to wander around the pretty mall avenues.
To end our day, we drove back to the centre of Canterbury to the Little High Eatery for dinner. The food hall offered Thai, pizzas, burgers and barbecue, but we decided we just hadn’t eaten enough Japanese food actually in Japan, so now was the time for more. I’d love to say we couldn’t eat everything we ordered, but I think our stomachs might have expanded by about 40% in the last five weeks, so we packed it away no problem.
That’s the end of our brief stay in beautiful Christchurch. Tomorrow we’re flying to Auckland so Saf can go hunting for Gollum in Hobbiton.
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Claudia Bow 