Autumn in the Land of the Long White Cloud

The last day of the first term finished on Friday 30th March and school finished an hour early at 2.30pm. Sarah and I went for a Greek meal in Echuca that evening after an exhausting week. Earlier in the week I had been to the grade three camp at a place about half an hour drive from Rochester, it was a rewarding experience although I very much looked forward to a decent night's sleep when I got back to Echuca!
On the 2nd April Sarah and I set off for an 8 day stay on the South Island of New Zealand. We drove down to Melbourne Airport and stopped half way in a town called Heathcote to go to the dunny. We got back into the car afterwards, I turned the key in the ignition and nothing happened. I tried again and again but each time....nothing. Luckily I had purchased an RACV breakdown cover back in January and I called them and they duly arrived five minutes later. The guy checked the battery, which was fine and then the alternator, which wasn't. We then took the car to the town's RACV garage and discussed our options. The best being that they tow the car down to a town called Sunbury, 20km from the airport, where they would fix it whilst we were in NZ. The RACV then paid for a taxi to the airport for us once we sorted out the car with the Sunbury garage. We had, as is the English way, left in plenty of time for the airport luckily. The RACV were brilliant and we were very glad that we took out breakdown cover with them.
The flight to Christchurch took around 3 hours and we didn't see much out of the widow because it was dark. Once in NZ we had our apples confiscated once again, as is par of the course in the Antipodes. We then took a shuttle bus to our hotel and went to bed at past midnight, due to the 2 hour time difference (we were once again 11 hours ahead of the UK. The clocks had gone back in Victoria at the end of March when the clocks had gone forward in the UK, making the difference 9 hours). We woke the next day to green, when we opened the curtains. Everything was green and not the dull yellow and brown that we had got accustomed to in parched Victoria. On that first day we visited Christchurch cathedral, did some shopping and took a bus to the outskirts where we went up in a cable car to a mountain overlooking NZ's third city. Our second mishap of the holiday happened when Sarah broke the digital camera as it hit the chair in the cable car. This was a great pity because the views over the city, the sea, the lakes and the plains were amazing. (However we did buy a disposable camera and hope to get the film developed shortly so we can place the pictures onto this blog at a later date.) We went for a short stroll to some look out points near the summit before heading back into the city. That evening I ate some lamb (well you have to in New Zealand even though it is autumn and I apologise to my Welsh friend for eating his love) and I tried the local ale, which went down most nicely.
On 4 April we visited the Christchurch museum and took a bus out to the NZ Antarctica Centre, where I stood in an artificial snow landscape where a wind machine blew very cold air at temperatures of around -25 degrees. I had a coat on but as I was wearing shorts I got rather cold. Still it reminded me of standing on a January night at the Abbey!
The next day we checked out of the hotel and picked up a hire car, which had been upgraded from a Toyota Yaris to a Corolla. (One of the joys of travelling outside school holidays as NZ kids were still at school, an experience I rarely, if ever get, these days.) We drove east of Christchurch onto the Banks' Peninsula, a volcanic outcrop from the flat Canterbury plains. We were surprised how hilly and mountainous this was as we headed for the town of Akaroa. Again the scenery was spectacular as we wove our way to this historic port with a Gallic feel. Akaroa had originally been settled by the French in the 1840's. A French ship had docked there in 1838 and the peninsula had been agreed to be sold to the French by the local Maori population. The ship departed back to France and organised a group of French (along with a handful of Germans) to settle the area. Of course due to the vast distances to be travelled they did not arrive at the harbour of what was to be Akaroa until 1840, six days after the British had bought all of New Zealand from the Maori populations. With a Gallic shrug of the shoulders and a 'cest la vie' the French agreed to stay. Akaroa today makes the most of its French connection with lots of cafes and french food in the restaurants as well as the French named shops and hotels. One of which, La Rochelle, was where we were staying for our two days here. In the afternoon we borrowed the hotel's bikes (two wheeled variety!) and rode around the port.
After enjoying hot cross buns on Good Friday we headed for the harbour where we had planned to swim with the local Hector Dolphins. We took a fast boat and sailed around the bay and out into the Pacific ocean looking for our intelligent friends but unfortunately apart from a few glimpses they were not in the mood to play. We still got ourselves into the ocean and trod water for a bit before heading back to harbour where we got some money back because of the no show of the world's smallest dolphin in the world's largest ocean. In the afternoon we went for a hike up in the hills overlooking the port on a hot NZ autumn day before driving over to the other side of the peninsula and paddling in the cold Pacific.
On Saturday we departed Akaroa in the rain! I had forgotten what the wet stuff looked and felt like. We headed back into Christchurch and out the other side into the Southern Alps for a three night stay in the mountain resort of Hanmer Springs. We lodged in a mountain cabin which was very pleasant and cold, although we turned the heating on later. I just had all the windows open for a while to add to the effect before Sarah's moaning made me close them! After a short walk in the neighbouring forest in the rain we headed back to the cabin in the twilight. That evening the town was packed with locals all watching the Canterbury Crusaders, the local rugby team, on tv. Here they are obsessed with rugby as opposed to Victoria's Aussie rules.
On Easter Sunday the Easter bunny did not appear and Sarah and I went for an almost 7 hour hike in the mountains. We had taken a wrong turning and ended up above the tree line almost at the summit of one of the highest mountains. We did not attempt it due to the wind and the hour, as darkness was not far away and we had read all these stories of people being stuck for days up the mountains in the local press. All we had on us was some water, a chocolate bar and an apple (we had to buy some NZ ones!). So we retraced our steps and after a couple of more wrong turnings we eventually arrived back at the cabin just after dark with very sore feet. Still a nice meal and some local wine helped heal the aches and pains that evening.
On our last day in the land of the long white cloud we drove across the mountain peaks and went for a short three hour hike on the western side of the Southern Alps. Whilst walking I was attacked by a wasp and stung on the head, would you believe, which was very painful! On the way back to Hanmer Springs we stopped at some hot smelly thermal springs, which despite the sulphuric smell really did seem to help relax us.
The flight back was fine and this time in daylight where we saw a lot of the Tasman Sea. We arrived back in Melbourne Airport caught a taxi to Sunbury where our car had been sorted out. We drove back to Echuca slowly in the dark aware of marsupials, which was lucky because we almost hit a plodding wombat in the middle of the road.
After sorting out the washing the next day we planned a night's stay in St.Kilda, a seaside suburb of Melbourne for Friday night. Here we visited Melbourne gaol, where Ned Kelly was imprisoned and then hanged, before enjoying a meal in Chinatown. (Us not Ned!). We ambled along the sea front the next day and did a little shopping before departing back to Echuca. On the Sunday I played football for the local team in a friendly where we enjoyed a comprehensive victory. Now, however, the Easter break draws to a close and I must ready myself for term 2, which last for 11 weeks!!!!
Today (17 June) I have added some photos to this blog page from our trip to New Zealand.