Christchurch

Moeraki Boulders
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Our final few days in New Zealand! From Dunedin, we took time to check out the Moeraki boulders along the coast. These boulders are very large and very round and were actually formed while under the sea and then uncovered through erosion.

Scott also decided to take a small detour and spend one night in Lake Tekapo so that we could enjoy the gorgeous turquoise color that you love to see in glacier lakes. Unfortunately for us, the clouds had rolled in and there wasn’t much sun remaining to enjoy it. We arrived late in the afternoon and settled in before having a fantastic dinner at a newly opened resort restaurant. Our final morning we drove up to a mountain observatory to take in the surrounding views and then headed off to Christchurch.

Our last days in NZ!

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Christchurch is a great city and definitely has that English flavor. We arrived mid-afternoon, and had put off some Australia planning until now, so we really only had a little time to spend seeing the city. Our priorities were on the Arts Centre which also happened to have the weekend market running which included food stalls and goodies in addition to the various artists booths set up around the grounds. We then strolled through the botanical gardens which were abloom with gorgeous flowers. We were most taken with the area with various massive trees from around the world. I almost forgot that we also found time to hit the Twisted Hop, a local brew pub, for some tasty suds. For those of you keeping track, more wineries were visited than breweries – although we did skip a few breweries and I think it was simply so Scott could say

Rush hour leaving Lake Tekapo
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Our last evening was perfect as our new friends, Geoff & Lisa, had graciously invited to their home for dinner. We became friends while walking the Milford Track together. It was a great evening and definitely a perfect ending to our time in New Zealand.

Our final thoughts on New Zealand:

· Our favorites mostly centered on the south island (no surprise here):

o Milford Track was fantastic. Our only regret is that we would have done more of the great walks – especially the Routeburn Track.

Christchurch botanic gardens
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o Doubtful Sound

o Abel Tasman National Park

o Napier – our favorite on the north island

· We found it most interesting to learn about all of the native bird life and other wildlife in NZ and especially how they are now struggling with all of the introduced animals that have caused much damage over time to the birdlife and the forests.

Christchurch Art Centre
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· We loved the people here as everyone was down to earth and very friendly.

· The wines were all fantastic - my favorite region being Hawkes Bay outside of Napier.

· Scott’s pic for his favorite brewery was Roosters outside of Napier and the Twisted Hop in Christchurch.

· The B&B’s and motels are great. We loved all of the B&B’s and motels that we stayed in – all of the hosts were great. It was good to know that our weeks of prep back home was worthwhile.

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· We found the restaurant cuisine interesting and wouldn’t necessarily say we were overwhelmed by the food. That being said, our home cooked meal with friends and our B&B meals were actually some of our favorites!

· We found many things to be quite costly – things like soda, beer (even bottled beer from a store), bottled water, and general toiletries.