Christchurch and Akaroa

We spent our first full day in New Zealand in Christchurch. Unfortunately, the day started out cold and wet, and we spent the majority of the morning getting groceries and camping supplies, as well as recovering from the long flight. We went to a cool store called The Warehouse and picked up sleeping bags, a cooler, camping chairs and some toiletries since my bag still had not made it. We also went to the grocery store to get some necessities for camping. We got lunch food and a lot of freeze-dried food since we brought our jet boil a.k.a. camping stove. We also got a six pack of beer – it was funny to see that a case of Corona was more expensive than their local beer but makes sense because it has to be imported. Lucky for us! We got a good six pack of dark ale from a brewery called Stoke. After shopping, we went and checked into Airbnb and took a nap since we were still pretty exhausted. After waking up, we introduced ourselves to the other flat mates and found some really nice French people on holiday. Some of us went out for dinner and drinks in the city center of Christchurch and exchanged stories of our travels. It’s really nice to stay in hostels or AirBnBs because you have the chance to meet travelers like yourself. After some beer and delicious dumplings, we returned to the AirBnB and hit the hay around 9:30.

Day 3 – Having gotten more than five hours of sleep, we woke up feeling ready to seize the day. The sun was shining and saying goodbye to our new friends, we hit the road to visit downtown Christchurch a bit more. Our first stop was the Christchurch Cathedral, which was devastated during the earthquake that hit the city years back. The whole city in fact still showed signs of recovery from the natural disaster as there were still damaged buildings and lots of construction. We also saw the 185 White Chairs of remembrance for the individuals that lost their lives during the Canterbury Earthquake. Each chair was different – there were bar stools, a baby carrier, a wheelchair. I’m not sure if each chair was meant to represent the victim but it was somber to see. The city was awesome in the sense that there were so many positive signs and mementos about moving forward and rebuilding.

After spending more time in the city, we headed our way to a Akaroa, a town of approximately 700 in a bay port. While it was a quiet town, we read when cruise ships come in that the town population can spark up to 10,000. The town itself was quaint and charming; we had beautiful views of the water.

Still a little jet lagged, we opted out of a hike and instead drove the Summit Road, which outlined the perimeter of the crater. Millions of years ago, the town of Akaroa was home to a huge volcano. It eventually erupted and left behind a huge crater, now filled with rich marine wildlife and beautiful scenery. Along the Road, there were several different roads leading down to different bays. We stopped at three – Okains Bay, Pigeon Bay and a third one named Bons, Le Bons Bay 🕵️‍♀️. They were all spectacular – we saw the Pacific Ocean rolling into the bay. I was really hoping to see some penguins as different species are known to live there but no such luck. We laid on the beach for a while and played rummy 500 with some Hurricane Cards – thanks Josh! After exploring all the bays, we drove to our first campground – Little River Campground. It was a super nice eco-campground with a communal kitchen, shipping-container turned cabins and lots of camper vans. We were the only people in a tent – it was not too fun camping in low forties. (Note to selves – we got more blankets today). After waking up, we drove back into Christchurch to do a little more grocery shopping and swing by the airport for my bag. The airport still couldn’t say where my bag is so we decided to continue on to the next part of our trip to Lake Tekapo. We’re pretty sure the bag will be couriered to us whenever it decides to make an appearance, so for now we’re going to continue to explore! See you in Tekapo!