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

South Island beginnings - Picton and the Kaikoura coast

We have had an awesome time so far in our two weeks in the South Island.  We were working at Tombstone Backpackers in Picton. Picton is a small town on a harbor in Queen Charlotte Sound, where the ferries come in from the North Island. Most people just drive right through, or stay only one night before going to the rest of the island, or to do the Queen Charlotte Track (a 3-5 day trail in the mountains along the sounds).  It was probably the best backpackers we've been to so far, they give breakfast and free wifi, and so comfy. We also went on nice hikes in the area, and did a few hours of the Queen Charlotte track, such amazing views. It's one of the landscapes where photos don't even come close to capturing the awesomeness of the views. But I took a lot of photos anyway.

 We left Picton after a week, we really liked working there but there's so much more to see! We do have tickets to a music festival over new years about an hour's drive from the same area, so we will be going back.  The last few days have been spent camping, hiking, and relaxing. We drove to Blenheim (only 30 minutes away from Picton), and spent a day visiting some of the wineries. Marlborough region is famous for wine, specifically Savignon Blanc. Sav is usually too sweet for me, but we found some good ones, and had a lot of fun doing all the tastings- mostly stuff way out of our price range.

mmm..free wine

Brancott Estate winery

free cheese is almost better than free wine.

camping out on the ocean near Blenheim

  From Blenheim we drove south down the Kaikoura coast. We saw fur seals right next to the highway, and again, some beautiful landscapes!  Kaikoura town is pretty tourist-oriented, they do lots of whale watching tours, swimming with the dolphins, fishing charters, etc. We can't afford any of that, so we did some window shopping and went on the coastal walk, saw a lot of seals up close and then had a totally delicious lunch of grilled rock lobster, fish, and scallops. Amazing.

Next, we went south to Culverden, where we stayed with a woman from Venezuela named America, and her husband, they work and live as share milkers on a dairy farm. We met her through my friend Hayden in Wellington, and she invited us to stay. It was like staying in a little South America in NZ- they have a few other families on the street from Chile and Mexico. During our stay we had a bbq and made a birthday cake for a 4 year old's birthday. I knew I should have learned Spanish but I didn't think it would come back to haunt me in the middle of New Zealand!

Today we went to Hanmer Springs, a resort town about 30 minutes away in the hills. We went on a hike in the mountains and then to the hot springs spa and pools. We spent two hours in the mineral pools and then rented a sauna. So relaxing and fun. Good day.

Tomorrow we go to Akaroa, which is on the Banks Penninsula, east of Christchurch. We've heard its really beautiful, it's a small town but close enough to the big city. We are going to be working at a backpackers there. Hopefully I will be able to find a cafe job in the town so we will be able to stay over the holidays and earn some money. We'll keep updating the blog when we can.