I was invited to Christchurch for the weekend and couldn't possibly turn down the offer. We drove North to Christchurch on Friday. Taking our time, we made sure to stop at our leisure and enjoy some touristy stops as well as some food stops. Our first stop was at the Moeraki Boulders on Koekohe beach. According to Maori legend, these boulders were the remains of the calabashes, kumaras and eel baskets that came ashore when the Araiteru "canoe-wrecked" at Shag Point.
If you look closely, you may be able to see Australia on this boulder. Either I have a good imagination or my geography skills are a little lacking.
I am not sure what comes to other people's minds when they see this, but I could not help from think of the Flinstones, playing crack the egg on the trampoline also came to mind.
Close up of life inside the crack of the boulder
For some reason I want to go to Africa. Perhaps some subliminal messaging here?
After jumping on boulders and playing around in the sand for a half hour, it was time to move on down the road a few miles to the city of Oamaru. The city has beautiful buildings crafted from the city's main resource, Oamaru stone (limestone basically). Amongst the beautiful churches, town hall buildings and Victorian inspired homes, even some of the retaining walls are built from this beautiful stone! My favorite artistic piece, however, was this chopper. I always wanted one growing up, but my dad (for good reason) said not under this roof will you ride one of those "organ donors". Well I finally got my chance to ride one, and in this case I don't think that anyone would have been able to take me down.
Just down the road there was a tempting little cheese factory. It was at this very cheese factory where I enjoyed blue cheese for the very first time. Apparently you just have to travel half way around the world to decide that you actually like something, or perhaps the goats here are just fed something different. Either way, the cheese was brilliant, as was their catch phrase.
When we finally made it to Christchurch, I was greeted by uncle Hugh and a nice cold beer. Really nothing could have been more appreciated than that. We spent the night catching up, talking about travel, school, work and calmly finished a great bottle of wine. I was even introduced to some Australian Port - what a treat that was! Even more of a treat was sleeping in a house with central heating. For the past 3 months I have been waking up seeing my breath; that streak ended in Christchurch.
The next day we had a hearty breakfast of French toast, bacon and orange juice before heading out to see some of the damage from the 7.1 earthquake that had hit one month earlier. The damage was devastating, especially considering that a month had passed and much of it had already been attended to.
Close up view
Just some great views that the NZ Bigsby's shared with me on my short stay.
A view through a hobbit window
Of course, my day could never be complete without some type of food. Nothing could have been better than homemade bagels and all the fixings.
My last few hours were spent at the beach. I had enough energy to climb to the top of the hill thanks to the coffee-walnut ice cream cone I had on the boardwalk. As you can see, uncle Hugh opted for the well deserved double scoop.
What a great trip it was. After a 6 hour bus ride I was back in Dunedin for my last month of undergrad studies. I can't wait for my next adventure.
A view through a hobbit window
Of course, my day could never be complete without some type of food. Nothing could have been better than homemade bagels and all the fixings.
My last few hours were spent at the beach. I had enough energy to climb to the top of the hill thanks to the coffee-walnut ice cream cone I had on the boardwalk. As you can see, uncle Hugh opted for the well deserved double scoop.
What a great trip it was. After a 6 hour bus ride I was back in Dunedin for my last month of undergrad studies. I can't wait for my next adventure.
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