Week 1

Christchurch

We arrived on a wet sunday into Christchurch, when we got to the hostel we were upgraded to a twin room :) bonus! In our room we also had an electric blanket mmmm toasty :)

The next day we decided we would explore Christchurch before starting the Kiwi experience on the Tuesday. As you all probably know Christchurch is mostly in ruins due to some hefty earthquakes over the past few years and has suffered some disaterous aftershocks. As a result most of the area is derelict, but it was worth going into the centre just to see what remained. Most of the buildings haven't been entered since the earthquakes as the structures have been deemed too dangerous so it just looks like a ghost town. However we did go to one area of town which has begun to be rebuilt and the shops were inside shipping containers.

Then we went to the museum which was also great.

Kaikoura

Today we began the Kiwi experience and heading on the bus to Kaikoura.

The scenery was amazing, personally I think it is much better than what we have seen of New Zealand.

Kaikoura is a small town, and we stayed in The Lazy Shag Backpackers which was okay, we couldn't do any of the activities, swimming with dolphins, seals and whale watching because there had been so sightings, and the dolphins had been scared away by the killer whales :( this was the start to our bad luck relating to the trips.

Kaiteriteri

Early start to get to Kaiteriteri, along the way we had the opportunity to stop off at a waterfall that had a colony of fur seal pups, they are adorable, they come up close, and play in the water together. I NEED to bring some home. The mother seals put their pups here so they can mature without being eaten by preditors in the sea before they even have a chance. Thats good thinking on the Mothers part.

When we arrived at Kaiteriteri we got settled in and then we took part in the quiz at the pub, it had 10 rounds! Intense! we didn't win, but its the taking part that counts righ :)

Westport

Today we headed to Westport, setting off at around midday so we had a bit of a lay in and a little explore of Kaiteriteri before we left.

We stopped of on the journey for Ice cream :) and sweets :) tasty :)

We were meant to arrive in Westport in time for the sunset however we were delayed so we just missed it, but we managed to get some good photos none the less.

Tonight we stayed at Basils hostel, it was lovely, so warm with an open log fire burining all night, even toastier than Christchurch :)

Lake Mahinapua

Tonight was a fancy dress party, so on our journey to Lake Mahinapue we stopped off at the Warehouse to get some things. We just bought a green bed cover and decided to go as greek goddesses, as they theme was ABC (Anything But Clothes).

We stopped off at Punakaiki Pancake Rocks for a walk and lunch along the way. This was amazing, the formation and erosion of the rocks is itriguing, it definately gets you thinking.

Tonight we stay in the 'Poo Pub' the hostel lived up to its name and was poo.

Some of the fancy dress outfits were very imaginative, someone went as a bin, present and even robin (from Batman) but his outfit was made purely from towels. We met a lovely couple here, Chris and Beth, who we continued to spend lots of our time with as you will see in future blogs.

Information overload!!!! Speak soon x