Southbound in NZ


On Tuesday 13 December we drive the 170 Kms/ 105 miles to Kaikoura on the east coast (A on the map);  dry hills, not much vegetation, in contrast to the Sounds. The road was damaged by landslides from a storm in August 2022 and there are still quite a lot of roadworks being done.

Stay in a motel 10 minute walk from Kaikoura centre.  Another tourist town that has a number of cafes, shops and restaurants that have closed.   Have a quiet day but head out in the evening to get a takeaway fish and chips dinner from Coopers Catch.  Fantastic feed of Blue Cod and Chips.  





A number of signs around the town to direct people to Tsunami evacuations routes - needed in an earthquake zone like this.


On Wednesday we are going on a whale watching trip!    A lot of warnings about the swell out at sea and danger of seasickness - yes, we fall for it and buy motion sickness tablets at no doubt inflated prices. Still, we don't get seasick (unlike some passengers).    Our boat holds up to 160 passengers and is twin hulled with four x 900 horse power engines - goes FAST.

Beautiful to see the misty shore with mountains beyond from out at sea.

Off shore we slow right down and the captain uses a hydrophone to track the clicks which tell us where a whale might be.  She finds one and we head in its direction - and thar she or he blows!   Over the next couple of hours we see a sperm whale (Holey Moley), a fin whale (briefly), another sperm whale, a Wandering Albatross, some gannets, a seal and a glimpse of some porpoises.  Just great to see all of them, tho'  quite a lot of watching a whale is like watching a part submerged log. That occasionally spouts a fountain of spray and looks spectacular when it dives.



Holey Moley dives!




Back to the jetty and into the car. Grab a sandwich lunch and back on "The One" to drive 180kms/ 110 miles south to Christchurch.  Our motel room is huge with kitchenette, sitting room, balcony, bedroom and bathroom .  In the evening we go for dinner with Mel, a school friend of John's and her husband Bede, and three kids Josh, Lucy and Toby.  Beautiful large house built soon after the earthquake in 2016, and great to meet everyone and the cat.


John and Mel
John, Mel, Lyndon & Bede



Thursday 15 December we have a tourist day in overcast Christchurch and see the progress made in rebuilding after the 2011 and subsequent earthquakes.   Still feels like there's a way to go.    A coffee,  tram ride and bit of a walk, followed by a trip up the gondola outside the city centre for a view of ... clouds.

 

 






In the evening we head for Kirwee to stay with John's cousin, Hamish Clarkson, meet his wife Amanda and daughters Alyssa and Libby, and to catch up with Hamish's brother Nick and his wife Maria.  Lovely house with a hectare of gardens with garages, a pool, formal planting and an area for chooks.    

Amanda is a deputy head at a primary school in nearby Rolleston where the pupil numbers have grown from nearly 100 to c 750 as people who were displaced by the Christchurch earthquake (s) have moved out of the city.
Hamish, Nick and John Clarkson

Hamish is very proud of his man cave with its own bar, several sofas and filled with video games and......  John and Hamish stay up till the wee small hours on the games and the Fireball Cinnamon Whisky. Let's just say that the next day John was tired and Hamish was a bit broken. John blames Hamish for digging out the Fireball.  Suffice to say that Lyndon does 80% of the 500 km/310 mile drive back to Gore that day, following 'The One'.  


back in Gore







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