Anna & I were fairly on the ball & set off to explore some of the northern bays of the peninsula just after 9. There was 3903.4K on the clock.
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| Looking across Pigeon Bay to the SW |
The 1st place we stopped was Pigeon Bay, & we got out for a walk along the eastern bank at Bonanza Time - AKA ten to ten (It's an English thing, so don't worry if you don't get the joke ;-p )
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| East shore of Pigeon Bay |
We walked along the eastern shore for a while, & we picked up a few nice bits of paua & other shells (Pics below).
We were back in the car by 1040, & I drove by way of Hill Top, Little River & Gebbie's Pass to Diamond Harbour.
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| Looking across Lyttelton Harbour from near Stoddard Point |
I followed my nose down Waipapa Ave., & parked at the end near the wharf at Stoddard Point.
We had a bit of a walkabout around the 'Recreation Area' there: This included a big ice cream from the cafe-stroke-general store at the top ;-p
We also walked down to Purau Bay, but it was full of flies & I didn't fancy another episode of sand fly swellings like in Northland 2014 so we just had a look & left it at that!
While we were at the Wharf, I got talking to an English couple from London who were holidaying with their 2 young lads. The lads & Dad were having a great time jumping into the water off the wharf.
I'd've joined in, but we had a few miles to go yet & it would take time changing & drying off.
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| Looking back towards Diamond Harbour on the way to Lyttelton |
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| Ditto across Governor's Bay |
Gosh!
Littleton isn't very picturesque, but we found a nice bar-cum-cafe on a corner, & got some lunch. We ate outside looking back across towards our morning's explorations, & Anna talked to the bf about where she should be in order to hook up with him & his family.
Reading between the lines, I think Anna had enjoyed being on her own, & able to do what she wanted, when she wanted, & wasn't too fussed about joining them!
I often wondered how she got on, & whether or not they stayed together.
Back in the car, we went through the tunnel from Lyttelton to Christchurch which comes out to the south east of the city.
Quite a few buildings were missing due to the 2011 quake, & my memory of the city was scuppered significantly by the changes wrought by big gaps where buildings had been, or new, modern, buildings where I remembered the old ones, but I found Worcester Boulevard eventually, & checked in at Rolleston House YHA.
The car had to be back near the airport at 1630, so I off-loaded everything, then dropped Anna off at the bus station at 1535 before heading out north west to Lucky Rentals. I figured 55min would be enough to travel less than 12K.
Bloody hell.
Talk about traffic!
It took me ages to get there because the road signs to the airport weren't helpful, & I caught nearly every red light going. In the end I detoured to avoid the queues, & got there only a bit late.
The exchange was quick & I legged it down the road towards Hornby for a bus back into town. It came within 5 minutes, & was supposed to take 17. It took more than twice that to get back to the bus station.
Walking back to Rolleston House via Columbo & Worcester, I had a look at the poor cathedral.
Quite frankly, it was a mess in comparison to how I had seen it in Dec.'9.
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| The tree survived :-D See 2009 pic below |
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| The front facade of the cathedral, held up with scaffolding in 2016 |
What a disaster for the city the earthquake in 2011 had been, with many of the old buildings I'd enjoyed looking at in 2009 wrecked or gone completely.
See the blog: Sunday: Nelson to Christchurch, & Monday: Christchurch from December 2009 & the 2009 pic below.
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| Check this 2016 chess/cathedral pic in relation to the one below from 2009. You can see how beautiful the cathedral had been |
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| They keep the chess in this box! |
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| Christchurch main square & chaps playing uber-chess! |
I lifted this pic from the More NZ touristy pics blog I published in January 2010.
I thought I had taken more of the Avon, & various buildings in the city centre, but there's nothing on the hard drive or in any other blogs.
I defo missed a trick, there. Shame :-(
Back at the Y it was time for tea (AKA leftover fish & chips from last night & the Okains citrus slice ;-p), & I got chatting to a bloke from Southport in the dining room. He kindly lent me his UK adaptor for the mob, camera & Sanyo. I did some blog notes & sudoku over the free tea & a mug of Straight 8 vino, then repacked & showered before bed at 2115: I had a Naked Bus to Kaikoura at 0700.
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| The bits from Pigeon Bay |
Feb 26th: Christchurch to Kaikoura
I got up at 6, ate 2 bowls of porridge, had 2 cups of free tea, hefted my bags, & walked round the corner to the bus stop.
It was still dark.
As well as passengers, a bloke took his bike with him & I wondered where he was going.
The bus began to leave on time, but pulled up immediately for a very late arrival who hugged & kissed his mum before running across the road for the bus.
I had a seat behind the driver, 2 rows back.
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| The Victoria Clock Tower as dawn breaks |
I quickly took a blurred pic as we passed it ;-)
As I had no idea what I'd photographed, I E'd the Christchurch i-Site & asked.
Of course, the lovely NZ folk came up with the goods again ~ this time, Jaya, who sent me a link with some info:
Diamond Jubilee Clock Tower. Also known as the Victoria Clock Tower, this volcanic stone and limestone structure has ornate wrought iron work with coloured glass around part of the tower and four clock faces. The tower has two white marble plaques and one bronze plaque set on stone work above arches. The upper part of the structure was designed by Benjamin Woolfield Mountfort and constructed in 1859 in England. Originally intended to have been incorporated into the Canterbury Provincial Council buildings complex, it was too heavy for its intended site. In 1897 the structure was incorporated into a memorial clock tower for the 60th Jubilee of Queen Victoria's Reign, with a stone base at the intersection of High, Lichfield and Manchester Streets. The tower was relocated due to traffic volumes, and erected on its present site in Victoria Street in 1930. The clock stopped and the finial bent with the force of the earthquakes. The tower suffered structural and stonework damage which has now been repaired and strengthened.
There was a bloke across the aisle who asked where I was from & what I'd been doing & seeing in NZ. I told him this was the 4th trip, & related a couple of my adventures, including the kina tale (see blog NZ14:Days 13 & 14-Dec 2nd & 3rd~East Cape to Stuart's via Morere Springs & Gisborne). He said it was great & one of his favourite foods!
Clearly, I'd lacked the knack of cooking it back at Morere Springs!
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| Sunrise from the SH1 north |
At least the windows were clean!
The bus was going to Picton, & we were due to arrive at Kaikoura (the 1/2 way point) at Bonanza time (see above ;-p)
Unfortunately, I have no notes about the journey itself, but I remember
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| Pointy peaks. No idea what they are! |
Despite the 2 bowls of porridge at 0630, I was peckish, so while I was on the bus I had some Graze rice crackers & cottage cheese, & other bits left over from Akaroa.
On the way up the coastal section of the journey, there were penguins & seals in the water & resting on the rocky shoreline, but we passed them too quickly for any pics. I remembered we had also seen them from the bus when I travelled down from Nelson in 2009.
Approaching Kaikoura I spotted a dun horse & a sign about a cave, & decided that was what I'd do 1st.
The Kaikoura bus stop was right across from The Fish Tank hostel where I was booked in overnight, so I checked in, dumped the bags, & walked back to the caves. It was about 2.5K going up to the SH1 & back down along the straight to the caves & cafe.
There were bacon butties on offer, so I had one & a brew while I awaited the 1230 tour. I also grabbed a few sachets of sugar, as I was totally SC at Waipara.
We were given hard hats & a safety chat before heading through a door into a hole in the cliff behind the cafe.
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| The safety brief outside the entrance |
At this point, my notes are very muddled! Greywacke's in there; millions of years; limestone reducing the effect of earthquakes; & a sea urchin fossil.
Not very coherent!
Therefore, I'll let the pictures tell the story.
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| The door to the cave |
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| I took this rock pattern for a reason! Um? |
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| Cheesy-looking deposits |
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| A pair of boots. Similar 'things' are at Mother Shipton's cave in Yorkshire (incl. dolls & teddy bears!) |
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| Stalactites & stalagmites |
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| Alien-looking growths |
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| More aliens! |
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| A closer view of the boots |
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| Yum, yum. Tripe ;-p Hehehe |
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| Fossilised sea-urchin & a recent once above it |
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| More interesting patterns on the cave wall |
While writing this blog, I discovered the cave is currently closed.
There had been an earthquake near Kaikoura in November 2016, resulting in the sea floor being raised a metre, landslips north & south of the town, big chunks of the SH1 moving, the Picton-Christchurch railway line coming adrift, & the cave being closed.
I guess the magnitude of that quake was too much for the limestone to cope with?
Back outside I got acquainted with the dun with the help of the grass my side of the fence. The stuff on his side was a bit brown & dry.
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| The nice dun horse I'd seen from the bus |
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| The Barney lookalike :-D |
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| Barney & me |
When I was 13 I got a dun pony for my birthday: That's him in the 3rd pic, taken when I was 15.
I hitched back to town & got a ride with a Dutch guy who recommended the seal swim. However, it was a dolphin swim I was after, so I went to the tour peeps & got myself on the wait list for tomorrow's 0500 & 0830 tours.
My bus to Waipara wasn't until 1600, so I had loads of time. They would call me tonight if I'd got on the 0500, & early tomorrow if there was a place on the 2nd trip.
I walked back to the hostel along the shingle beach. It was full of wave-made ridges, & I picked up a lovely white stone with bluey-grey markings on it.
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| Shags & red-legged gulls hanging out |
Near where the river came out there were birds resting on some rocks jutting out into the sea.
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| I think it had been a blue penguin, but it was now a sad corpse on the stones. |
A bit further along the beach I found a dead penguin. Poor thing :-((
I continued scanning the stones underfoot until I was more or less level to where the railway crossed the Esplanade & the SH1.
I was well into beachcombing by this point, having found a small pink paua shell as well as a large blue one nearly as big as my hand.
Back at the Fish Tank, I did a full check-in & was allocated a bottom bunk in room 7.
At some point in the proceedings I attempted to take photos of my Kaikoura & Pigeon Bay treasures by laying them out on the bunk, but with the dark blue background the flash kept going off. As you can see, it wasn't right successful, so I took a few more today ~ 28 2 18!
Better late than never, eh? ;-)
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| Kaikoura treasures. Incl.the pink paua & the nice white stone Taken at 171 on 28 2 18 |
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| Scallops & a small Cook's Turban |
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| Kaikoura treasures: pt 2. A rather blurred ( ;-p ) pink & blue paua |
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| This is the blue one, but the flash reflected too much when I photographed it on the Fish Tank bunk . . . |
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| 2 better versions, taken 28 2 18! |
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| My thumb & a glittery bit ;-p |
I fancied crayfish for tea ~ well Kaikoura was famed for them, & I cased a few joints for the best deal.
As the best deal was 48$ for a half crayfish, I decided not to bother in the end, & went to the FourSquare. I had some Akaroa cream cheese left so I bought pasta. I also got some licorice for the bus (& pudding ;-q), milk & feijoa cider. Tea & coffee were free at Fish Tank, but you had to supply your own milk, & I'd need some for Waipara, anyway.
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| The view looking north from the balcony when I had my tea |
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| Taken from Fish Tank's balcony just before bed |
Before bed I decanted the last of the Straight 8 into the plastic cider bottle to save on weight (I'd be car-less till Picton on the 29th), & chatted to the other occupant of the dorm ~ a girl from Sri Lanca who was on the 0500 trip.
Lucky devil!
I went to sleep hoping for an early morning telecall telling me to get down there for a dolphin swim.
OAO
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