Hit the road

Mum, Dad and Jess joined us in Christchurch as we set off on our tour of the south island. First stop breakfast, and breakfast in Christchurch means only one thing – Drexels. You can never get a table here by walking in. Its always necessary to book and sometimes weeks in advance.

Akaroa is east of Christchurch on a peninsula. The French tried to claim it many years ago but were forced out by the English who set up a whaling colony there. It’s a pretty little town with colonial style houses dotted all along the harbour front.

A blitz down the highway took us onto the town of Timaru where a “park gym” session made sure everyone took full advantage of all the fitness apparatus dotted around the park.

Oamaru further down the coast is home to two penguin colonies, the blue eyed and yellowed eyed penguins. We located a neat little hideout from where we could watch the yellow ones come in from the sea around sundown and waddle up the beach to their nests to guard their recently laid eggs.

Skip on down another 50 k’s and we hit another awesome spot known as the Moeraki boulders. We couldn’t find much written info on them but apparently they have formed naturally as lumps of rock fell away from the cliff edges and over the years have been smoothed down by the rolling tides. Silly photo time began (as is normally the case when we find a site of significant and historical and cultural importance). In amongst all the other rocks we spotted movements…it looked like something was coming out of the rock…like something was being reborn! We caught some snaps of the beast as it took its first breaths after hatching. Hideous.