Homeward Bound

My last night in NZ was cut short by the need to get to the airport early. The sun had just risen by the time I had gathered my things together for the last time - a really long day had just begun. A few people were already up in the hostel so I said my goodbyes and chucked my bag into the now empty car. The morning traffic was fairly light as I made my way to the Jucy Rentals depot just outside the airport. A quick check over and a swift fairwell to a trusty friend as I boarded the minibus to the terminal.

Too early. I was grabbing a domestic flight to Auckland so check-in wasn't open yet. I bought an over-priced coffee and sat and watched the planes come and go from the observation deck in the terminal. The flight to Auckland got me in about 12 hours before I could check in for my international flight. Not wanting to fork out for a bus ride into the city, I decided to wait it out in the airport. I was sick of lugging my now weighty bag around so I took out a few essentials and gave it to the left-luggage attendant. With the weight off my back I started out getting familiar with the airport. I walked about for a bit, bought a new book, found a seat, walked about a bit more, ate some breakfast, looked at the shops, sat down again.... 8 hours til check-in! I decided to try and get my head down, as I never sleep well on flights. I headed up to the upper floor of the terminal and found myself a quiet corner with some seating that was not being used. Bonus! I used my belongings as a pillow and bedded down.

I was awoken by a slamming door and when I came to, noticed that my quiet corner was now populated by a load of women all sitting around me! Confused and annoyed that 'my' spot had been violated, I quickly arranged my possessions and went to find somewhere else to lay my head. Now fully awake and buzzing due to my power nap I couldn't get comfortable again; frustrated, I went to the bar. Sipping an orange juice and watching golf on the TV, I noticed a another young bloke doing pretty much the same thing - looking equally dazed. I went over and sparked up a conversation to pass the time. He was another English guy who had been on a working holiday visa and had spent most of his time in the Marlborough region doing vineyard work. He had some good stories to tell and we chatted for a while - he flight didn't check-in until well past mine!

Finally the time came, So I picked up my bag and made my way though the security checks and made it finally to air-side. Just another few hours to wait until boarding started. The English bloke had also managed to blag his way air-side so we milled around the 'new' shops and kept ourselves entertained. We got talking to the girl working in the newsagent and she said we could take one the key-rings the shop was selling! So we did! However, later we returned the goods as we didn't really need them, and it was essentially stealing. One of the German girls I had met in many occasions previously, Swa, had also turned up! We once gain exchanged best wishes, and said we would probably meet again as she was flying via Heathrow to get her connection back to Frankfurt! That's a long flight!

As we rolled down the runway at 'some' mph, I already had the sinking feeling that comes with the realisation of heading 'home'. 12 hours later I would be in Singapore, then 12 hours after that, the UK.

Til next time, NZ.

Christchurch take 2

Cathedral Sqaure sculpture, Christchurch, originally uploaded by herdingnerfs.

Back in the city, I re-checked in to the Old Countryhouse (TOCH) and settled into my new dorm. This would be my final bed of the trip and it felt weird to be leaving the fleeting lifestyle I love and returning to the humdrum of life back home so soon. Luckily it was a nice bed! All the beds in TOCH are handmade out of bomber bits of timber and have real sprung mattresses. I got chatting to a Canadian bloke who had just flown in - this being his first trip outside Canada. I was glad to be able to answer some of his questions, knowing how much I would have valued a friendly face 4 years previously in Hanoi on my first big trip.

The following morning i walked into town to have a good look at the town. Despite being here 3 years ago, I never had a proper nosy around so I was keen to have good mooch. For some reason, A lot of people take an instant dislike to CHCH, in a similar way to Auckland. I personally find them both very amenable cities, as cities go; me not being a city person. I wanted to check out the art gallery mainly because of the cool building, so that's where I headed first. On the way out I bumped into two German girls from the hostel and together we checkout out the craft market in the arts centre. This is a good market - check it out if you're in town.

Back in the hostel I started the laborious task of compressing all the crap I had accumulated in my car into a single rucksack for the journey home. Having ditched all the junk and carefully arranged my gear to tessellate with great accuracy inside my pack I sighed with relief that it all fitted. I'd have to wait til the morning to find out if it was overweight.

Back to Christchurch

It's Sod's Law isn't it. you find somewhere you could easily spend 6 months on the penultimate day of your trip! Onuku was one of those places. It was time to leave far too early and I longed to stay a bit longer but I had to get back to CHCH to catch a flight in the following few days. Following Steve's advice, I took the back roads backs to civilizations via one of the amazing secluded bays that makes the Peninsula such an attractive destination. The steep climb out of Akaroa seemed to be endless as the coastal town gradually got smaller and smaller in my rear view mirror. The road slowly deteriorated into a dirt track as I neared the watershed. Once on the top I almost immediately dropped down the other side into Le Bons Bay. This beautiful unspoiled bay housed an amazing beach with a handful of homes behind the dunes. The weather today was nothing short of superb and the sun made the beach just perfect. These steep roads had taken their toll on my poor little car and had to let it cool down in the shade of a tree before attempting the steep climb back out of the bay! I spent a while just sitting on the beach thinking of the amazing time I have had here, in NZ.


On my way out of the bay, I had a huge oil delivery truck on my tail - obviously with more power than I had, even with my foot to the floor, i could hardly maintain 20mph. He was always right behind me. I felt bad for holding him up, so I pulled over as soon as possible to let him pass. With a friendly toot of his horn, he sped past. Once back on the backbone, I made my way reluctantly back towards CHCH. The back road was blocked due to a slip (surprise surprise) So I had to cut back onto the main road (SH75) and retrace my tire tracks back to the city, passing the hexagonal cafe once again.

Akaroa - Banks Peninsula

The transition from city to nature was almost instantaneous upon leaving CHCH. My aim was to get to Akaroa - the largest settlement of the region and have a snoop around. The drive out took me past some ace scenery. The rivers that drained to the Pacific Ocean were lined with many little fishing shacks - dilapidated caravans, tin sheds, scrap houses. These were the only thing breaking up the horizon for bland field after bland field. In the distance, the high ground that makes up the backbone of the peninsula could be seen beneath the threatening grey sky. I stopped for lunch at a conveniently situated cafe about an hour outside CHCH centre. This hexagonal building was at a dogleg in what was a very straight road and seemed to be very popular for somewhere so remote. I ordered a BLT bagel and eaves-dropped on a conversation between two civil engineers on the adjacent table while pretending to read a paper. It was the suits coupled with work boots that gave away their profession.

The road snaked its way into the valleys of the peninsula and slowly began to climb up, passing through tiny hamlets as it did. The weather was quite bleak now and soon I was inside cloud which obscured my view of the landscape. Akaroa is a coastal town and the road twisted it's way down a steep hill to get to it. I wondered how supply wagons coped with this brake-testing decent. I parked up and donned m Swannie as it was a wee bit chilly. Akaroa is a sleepy little place with a few things to keep the traveller entertained during the winter months! I had a good look at the local museum and a wander round town, before calling Steve at Onuku Farm hostel to confirm my bed for the night. A short drive out of town and up a hill and I pulled though the gates to the farm. Before I could even get my bag out of the boot, Steve had come out to greet me and offer me a brew. Top bloke. He told me the place was very quite at the moment and they had only just re-opened after winter. He introduced me to the German girl was acting as a manger for him and we sat around the fire drinking tea. I was given the guided tour of the place, including the infamous outdoor showers and his 'stargazers' (think a wooden tent with a perspex roof to view the stars). The hostel was build by his father and occupies an amazing position overlooking the natural harbour. Before sunset, another traveller arrived. amazingly, it was someone I had met over a month earlier while exploring Golden Bay. She was still living in her campervan! We spent an enjoyable evening drinking homebrew joined by a friend of the management from the village. As I snuggled into my bed that night, I thought how awesome this place and these people were.

Christchurch take 1

The Old Countryhouse is a benchmark. This is how city hostels should be. Based around two suburban villas, this place ticks all the right boxes. As I waited to get checked in i got chatting to Steve as he was pinning up a poster of a hostel on the Banks Peninsula. I mentioned that I was thinking of heading that way the next day and asked if his place was open. It would be if I turned up! I got on well with Steve so I shook his hand and said I'd come and stay if I ended up that way. The were no dorm beds left so I took a discounted twin room which ended up being in its own cottage in the garden! Central heating!! Wow! The owner was an ex-pat Welsh bloke who missed central heating so much that he ended up buying all the old radiators from the old city hospital as it was being demolished and went about plumbing them in to the hostel. It turned out to be a bit of a reunion as there were about 6 people I knew staying that I had bumped into at previous locations! R+R turned up later and we had a good evening cooking and catching up with old faces.

Before I heading out to the Banks Peninsula, I wanted to try and get rid of my show chains that I had purchased in Greymouth. Seeing as the were unused I thought I could get a good price for them, even if Spring had sprung and the snow was melting fast. A few phone calls to the Jucy Rentals and ski shops around town resulted in a dead end. No one seemed to want them. I didn't have the time to sell them privately to another traveler or local so I headed into town armed with the bag of chains and ploughed my way around the various likely looking establishments dotted around Christchurch's Cathedral Square. Nothing. Getting increasing frustrated I decided to try and get a refund from the original retailer. A quick flick through the local directory and I found the CHCH branch of Repco and headed off into the wintry winds. No worries, A refund was given with not so much as an inspection of the chains! Happy as Larry with a full refund I headed off to the Banks Peninsula with a smile on my face.

Getting back to it

It has been a very long time since I posted on this blog. I have had a few inquiries as to why I have not continued, or finished my tales. The answer - laziness.

I am now back in the UK and have been for some time. I am in the process of completing my degree in Engineering Design and am already planning and dreaming of future trips. Realizing that I have left this blog unattended for a while, I have decide to fill in the remaining gaps and complete my tales from NZ. I shall also add a few photos to previous posts to break up the monotonous text.

The Road to Christchurch

All three of us were headed to CHCH but R+R had booked a bus before I had offered them a lift - not such a bad deal as it was a very cheap ticket. It was due to be a 6hr drive so I set off in good time to allow myself decent stops en-route. I headed out of Wanaka passing the airport complex where the driving range and Beerworks Brewery are situated. The first skydivers of the day were heading Earth bound. The road headed north east and was unexpectedly flat to begin with before heading skywards to get over the Lindis Pass - I wasn't expecting to climb to 950m and was unprepared for such an alpine crossing, but the snow was thin and I was descending before the snow started to fall. Soon I was in Twizel, a small town constructed in the 1960's for the workers who built the nearby hydro power station. Few people decided to leave once the construction had finished and clung on to the community that had been created. Further north was Lake Tekapo - a lake full of 'rock flour' that gave it a wonderful blue hue. The snow was coming thick and fast now but luckily was not settling. I took a quick peek at the 'Church of the Old Sheppard' that takes and idyllic location at the head of the lake. Beside this is a small memorial to sheep-dogs. As was walking back a tour bus of Japanese people packed into the tiny church - not sure how they all fitted but origami must have been employed! From here to my lunch stop in Fairlie I passed thousands of cairns that had been erected at the side of the road. This strange feature must have stretched for 10-15km. My guidebook did not shed any light on this but I guess it was something that passers by regularly add to. In Fairlie I stopped at the Old Library cafe and was greeted by a Scottish accent. I gorged myself on the biggest plate of potato skins you have ever seen, smothered with tomato sauce, cheese, cream cheese and chives! With the stuff I couldn't eat in a doggy-bag I headed on to CHCH passing merino sheep farms with signs proudly declaring 'Your ICEBREAKER comes from here!' Wearing mine, i smiled at this. The Canterbury Plains from Ashburton to CHCH are boring by NZ standards so I pushed on to make the city by dark. Of course - this meant hitting the city at rush hour. Without taking a incorrect turn, I was outside The Old Countryhouse before long.