Day 21 & 22: Christchurch

I woke in the morning to a beautiful day, no wind, no rain (😄 no this isn’t the song by Diana Ross!) but sadly it looked like perfect Whale Watching weather, and I was heading out on a bus! 😳 I managed to spend a little time with Maui and also with the lovely Hong Kong girl, whose name is Candy! She is so lovely and got a little bit teary when I left, bless her, I hope she finds some nice friends soon.

I headed down the zig zag hill with my case, Jesus! Down is so much worse than up! 😳 I found a fab little coffee place by the station and bought a flat white and just to change things up a bit an Afghan Biscuit!

The bus arrived and I bagged a good window seat quite near the front, behind a couple of older women. The bus heads off and follows a gorgeous route all the way to Christchurch. It starts by following the coast on the other side of the peninsula, then up over and through some mountains/hills across a valley then onward to Christchurch. I was really looking forward to the journey, I had my coffee, snacks a view! Perfect. The journey along the coast was gorgeous, lots more seals and a calmish sea (I bloody guarantee they are whale watching today, fuckers!🐳😳😢) The Mountains and hills are incredibly picturesque. Everything was fab…except the bloody woman in front of me did not stop talking for almost the entire journey, seriously I’m not even sure she drew breath, just on and on and on in this high, winy voice, her poor friend (at least I hope it was her friend and not some poor unsuspecting passenger! 😳) hardly got a word in. After about 2.5hrs the friend died of boredom, or pretended to be asleep, I’m not sure which. We had a brief respite, approx 2mins! before she started talking to the driver for the remainder of the journey! FFS, STFU!

Apart from this the journey was lovely! I saw lots of NZ Hawks, I even saw one trying to drag the entrails of a sheep into the air 😲 I also saw lots of these fabulous ducks/geese They are always in pairs, one is black and one is reddish with a white head….I love them, I love that you never see them separately, also in pairs, so cute.

I arrived in Christchurch, the weather was good, quite sunny, I walked to my YHA which is pretty central, dropped of my stuff and headed out to explore.

The city is in a valley, so it’s quite flat and it is also still in the process of rebuilding after the devastating earthquakes of 2011 when over 180 people lost their lives and the city was severely damaged. Cathedral Square gives the best indication of the severity of the quake. The cathedral was very badly damaged as were lots of building around it. I had a good look around this area, then went for some lunch, which turned out to be a liquid one! A fantastic Bloody Mary! Then I grabbed some supplies from the rather expensive intercity supermarket, dropped these off then went out for some much needed food!

i was so hungry by now that I was struggling to decide what and where to Eat! I finally spotted a menu that said Shepherds Pie and I was sold! It was in a rather busy Irish bar. I ended up sharing a table with a lady called Pat and her son Andrew from Yorkshire, who are over here visiting her brother. Pat was lovely, welcoming, chatty. Andrew…not so much! He looked shifty and uncomfortable and I have to be honest a little bit dodgy! Pat on the other hand could not have been nicer. She is in her late 70s and learnt to swim in her late 50s so she could go cage diving with sharks! She often travels to NZ on her own, Then last year she did a sky dive over Cairns!! Go Pat. Very impressive lady.

After my delicious and homely food I headed back to the YHA and an early night.

Today the weather  has again been beautiful. I spent the morning having a walk around the neighbourhood and doing some laundry. Then I went on a Wine Tour to the Waipara wine region. The group on the tour consisted of Karen, Christopher and Grace (Grace was their daughter who was 13)  from New Jersey USA and Karen from Melbourne. We ended up having a fabulous time, great scenery, great wine, great company! USA Karen used to be a social worker and psychologist, but quit a few years ago and now makes jewellery. She gave Karen and myself one of her beautiful handmade pendants, which is complex and stunning.  Such fun people to spend the day with. As we were heading back to Christchurch, Christopher said that I remind him of Dame Judy Dench!! Now, I have been told this before and I have decided that I’m going to take it as a massive compliment (and ignore the fact that Dame Judy is in her 80s!)

A really fun day today. Apparently the weather is due to get bad tonight! I think it’s following me.

Kia Ora from a happier and more chilled me.

Xxxxx

Author: hereandthereclaire

Hi, my name is Claire and I am 60 years young, welcome to my blog. I am new to the whole travel and blog writing world, so no judging! I recently made some big life changes, leaving my job in education and moving myself and my younger children to Newquay in Cornwall, I then started a business with some fantastic friends #coffeeonthecornernewquay. And now I am about to embark on my first big travel adventure...I would love to share this with you. Since starting this blog in 2018 I have made more changes, and now in 2024 I will be traveling full time for the next year! Please join me in sharing my Big Adventure! ❤️ View all posts by hereandthereclaire