Summertime Christmas

Akaroa Lighthouse

Akaroa harbor and the main wharf on a sunny day, from the lighthouse

photo shoot in the backpacker garden, plus some outtakes from when I tried to do it myself..

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Akaroa!  We have been very busy with work, both at the backpackers and at the restaurant. There has also been a lot of rain lately, so we haven't done much outside of working hours. But we are having fun and are enjoying living here.  The town gets busy over the holidays, with a lot of Kiwis who have vacation homes here, plus a few days a week the cruise ships bring a couple thousand people in just for the day.  Next week we aren't going to have any days off (which is great for our bank account).  We get to talk to a lot of interesting people at work, and they are always interested to hear about our journey also.
We worked at the restaurant for a wedding last week. It was an interesting experience, it rained during the day but everyone had a good time. Weddings here aren't much different from at home.  There was a nice dinner, TONS of drinks (we kept running out of beer glasses at the bar), and dancing into the night. It was interesting being on the staff end of a function like that.  The bar tab alone for the 75 guests was over $4,000.

We also had a staff holiday party last week. We were all taken to another restaurant in town and had drinks and a nice lunch courtesy of our bosses, and then even went over to our managers house to continue the festivities. It was fun getting to know the people that we work with, especially since we live 15 minutes away from the town and don't really get time to hang out with people.  There are two staff houses where most of them live, and Chris and I might move in for February. 

staff party, breads and spread appetizer. yum

chris and the owner's kids, libby and alex

Here is Chris and some of the boys hunting for Christmas trees in the bush at 2 am... 

didn't quite fit but they made it work

beautiful Christmas forest.

On Christmas eve we went on a nice long hike in a reserve just over the hill from Akaroa. There were some great views of the ocean plus waterfalls, but the trail was pretty steep which made it hard since we're getting out of shape again!

Henewai Reserve, on the other side of the peninsula from Akaroa

the start of the waterfall loop track

weslie is dead after the hike... steep was a bit of an understatement.

Christmas Day was really nice. Thank you to everyone who wished us a Merry Christmas and sent cards! I bought Chris a set of whiskey stones and he got me a trip to NZ for a year. Thanks babe!

It didn't really feel that 'Christmasy" without family and cold weather, and people don't really decorate with lights, or go to church, or any of the traditions that we are used to at home- but it was ok to have a different experience.

We spent the day lounging around the backpackers, watching movies and icing cookies.  For dinner, all the guests, plus Gill and Des (the owners) got together for a pot luck dinner. It was a lot of fun, lots of great food and TONS of dessert- including 3 chocolate cakes. Dinner was originally going to be outside but it was raining so we all crammed into the dining room and lounge.

our sad little tree... decorated with chocolates!

Champagne brunch to start the day!

FaceTime with family is important on holidays. Oreo is not amused.

the hostel dining room set up for Christmas dinner for 25 people

pre-dinner nibbles and drinks

Mmmm... best pot luck. I made the cheesy broccoli rice.

why don't Americans do christmas crackers??

enough desserts to make a meal

"Kiwi' sugar cookies, the flower is the Pohutukawa (nz christmas tree) flower 

I'll finish up today with some photos.  We should be working at this backpackers until at least mid-january, maybe until February. Then we may move into the staff house and finish working at the restaurant at the beginning of March. We are looking into staying past our working holiday visa, and coming home at the end of May, but if that doesn't pan out, we will be home April 20. Only four more months-- not enough time!!

on the way to akaroa from christchurch

Feijoa tree in flower

Dahlia

Fuschia

Akaroa and Christchurch

We are spending the summer on the Banks Penninsula, which is east of Christchurch. The town (village) of Akaroa is about an hour's drive from the city, in a harbor off of the pacific, and was originally a French settlement. We are staying and working at a backpackers called Halfmoon Cottage, which is about ten minutes before Akaroa, in Barry's Bay.  It's the usual work exchange position, we clean or garden for 2 hours a day in exchange for a bed. We have our own little hut here, with a sleeping loft, and lots of fresh herbs and veggies from the gardens.  The work is easy, and the hostel only sleeps 14 people so I don't have to change many beds each day. The owners, Gill and Des, are really nice and always have a nice morning tea/coffee/cookies for us each day.

We have one day off a week from the backpackers, last week we went to Christchurch to see what had changed since we were there in January 2010.  They had two big earthquakes, a 7.1 in September 2010 and a 6.3 in February 2011 that took 185 lives and  caused a lot of damage, including liquefication in the central city and suburbs.  We went to the earthquake museum and learned more about the events and rebuild efforts, and took a look around the places we had been to before. There is not much left, and hardly any businesses still open in the center. There is an interesting outdoor mall made from shipping containers, and some museums and attractions are open.

Re:start Mall

photograph of damage, earthquake museum

We stayed at the hotel on the right in 2010

buildings around have since been demolished, it is no longer open

remnants of Christchurch Cathedral

We have had a few good shakes since we've been here- kind of unnerving but not too bad since we aren't in a city.

A lot of people don't want to stay in Christchurch city since there is hardly anything left after the earthquakes. We get a lot of guests who have either just arrived into the country and flew into Christchurch, or who are at the end of their vacation and about to leave, so its been interesting to meet everyone. 

We also met a guy named Brando who is walking the entire coastline of New Zealand to raise money for Ronald McDonald house charities. Our hostel hosted him for a night during his journey, the Lions Club sponsors the charity, and Des is a local member. It was interesting to hear about his trip so far. He started in February up at Cape Reinga and will finish maybe in June next year. His website is http://www.supportbrando.co.nz/, check it out.

Some people who are leaving have given Chris and I food that they haven't used, the other day we got fresh eggs, yogurt, hummus, pasta, and even beer and cider! We'll take what we can get. :)  Chris and I have actually been leaning towards a semi-vegan diet lately, eating pretty much only plant-based, whole foods (non processed), and hardly and meat or dairy. But if someone gives us food or we're invited to a meal, we will still eat anything. We did have a nice Thanksgiving even though we were all by ourselves, we had chicken sausages, cranberry sauce, potatoes and asparagus. We haven't met any other Americans since we have been in Akaroa. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving dinner for 2

We managed to find paying jobs in town for the summer, so we will hopefully be staying in the area until the end of February at least. Both Chris and I are working at a restaurant called Ma Maison, one of the nicer restaurants in the town.  We are just training at the moment, but it's so much easier than serving at Pappadeaux, and since people don't tip in New Zealand, we get a nice hourly wage, I think about $15nz/hr. (about $12.50us)  We are hoping to save up a lot of money to travel around the rest of the South Island before we have to come home in April.

The view from work-- can't complain!

Cruise ships also come into the harbor for the day, usually 2-3 days a week during the summer. They used to go to Lyttleton harbor close to Christchurch, but since the big earthquakes 3 years ago, they come here for the day instead.  There are lots of tourist attractions here, like dolphin watching/swimming cruises, fishing charters, shops, cafes, walks, beaches, a cheese factory, winery, etc.  I think we'll enjoy staying here over the summer, and having Christmas in summer will be interesting too.

lots of hiking

skinny mountain-man Chris