We're not cruising this time, we're driving, and the South Island of New Zealand is our destination.
After flying, very smoothly, from Coolangatta to Auckland and then Auckland to Christchurch, we finally picked up our hire car. We arrived at the hotel around 9.30pm to check in for three nights and as we had previously organised a late check-in, we rang the bell. After much discussion we were advised we didn’t have a reservation.
As you can imagine, we were a tad perplexed. However, upon checking the last email communication from the hotel we discovered we were actually booked in for 2024, not 2023. A great start to our holiday! Fortunately, the hotel had a room, but just for one night. So, we dragged our bags out of the car and after settling into our room booked accommodation for the next two nights, cancelled our 2024 booking and checked every other booking we had made – all of which were, thankfully for this year. Very odd.
Christchurch has certainly gone ahead since our last visit seven years ago. The following day, after checking out and checking into our new accommodation (where we previously stayed in 2017) we walked into the city and were delighted to discover an entire strip of wonderful restaurants and cafes, right on the river, as well as the Riverside Market, a large and modern food hall.
We then called into the Canterbury Museum, which is in smaller,
temporary premises whilst renovations are made to its existing heritage building. As chance would have it, a special exhibition on the Six
Extinctions was currently running.
That night we chose to eat at an Irish pub, the Little Fiddler where the food and wine were great!
Thursday was a special day – Jim’s birthday! In the morning we visited the International Antarctic Centre where we spent a few hours learning about the research work being accomplished in the Antarctic. Among the attractions was a 4D film where we not only saw and heard, in 3D, the journey to the Antarctic, but were jolted about in our seats and felt the wind and rain on our faces, as our ship surged across ice floes. Amazing.
We were just in time to see the daily penguin feeding (real penguins) and we watched, through glass, as other intrepid visitors suited up and stood inside a room where the temperature was -8°C. But as the wind picked up the chill factor dropped to -45°C. Thankfully they all survived…
From there we drove to the Orana Wildlife Park, the
only free-range zoo in New Zealand. It took us nearly two hours to walk around
the entire park and we were delighted to see giraffe, rhinoceros, lions,
cheetahs, various primates including a gorilla, ostriches, and a range of
African antelopes. We also saw wallabies, emus and Tasmanian Devils which are thankfully
free of the tumour disease.
That night we celebrated Jim’s birthday at a restaurant
called Original Sin. Catchy name. We enjoyed superb food and wine in a
warm and inviting setting, whilst we listened to Sinatra, Bennett, Buble and
Pavarotti. What more could we have asked?
We left Christchurch behind and headed north, along the scenic coast. First stop was the No. 8 CafĂ© at Cheviot for coffee, then onwards to Kaikoura. On our last visit there, the town was recovering from a major earthquake and the rail line and tunnels were practically demolished. This time the town, which is right on the coastline and is famous for dolphins and albatross, was well and truly back to normal. The day was a magnificent 17°C with sunshine, against a backdrop of snow-capped mountains. We lunched there and then drove up to the lookout before again heading north.
We arrived in Blenheim late afternoon and checked into our
hotel, then dined in-house. The following morning we walked through this quaint town and then left for Nelson, some 120 kms away. The scenery at every turn is stunning but many of the roads reminded us of that stretch between Queenstown and Strahan...
Nelson is a lovely town and is much bigger than we had anticipated. Our hotel was right in the CBD and very handy to everything. On our walk through town we discovered the charming Eclectic Antiques store, two floors jam packed with antiques and collectables.
That night we dined at Lombardi's Italian Restaurant following a glass of fine NZ pinot gris at the Urban bar. There seemed to be two festivals in full swing, one just behind our hotel with music, dancing and a Ferris wheel, and the other across the road with food stalls and a Spanish band. Nelson is obviously alive and kicking, for all ages.
The next morning we walked through the Monty Market, a second-hand market in a square close to our hotel, then drove to the small but beautiful Miyazu Japanese Garden, followed by the equally beautiful Queen's Gardens which also houses the Huangshi Chinese Garden; Huangshi and Miyazu and are both sister cities of Nelson.
On our way north we passed the 'middle of New Zealand', the spot considered to be the centre of the country, and also the ground upon which the very first New Zealand rugby game was played. We drove towards the vineyards and wineries of Marlborough and called into the Gravity Winery, where the operating system uses gravity to move wine through various phases of production. We enjoyed a delicious lunch on the terrace in the sun, with yet more of the South Island's beautiful pinot gris.
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