We covered the top half (more like a third) of the South Island, starting and finishing at Christchurch and travelling widdershins. For reference, here’s a map.Day 1 – Auckland to Kaikoura
(No pictures of wide interest were taken today.)
Our taxi arrived right on time, with our friendly regular taxi driver. Everything went smoothly. I changed our seats at the automated check-in facility so that we were sitting in the front row. I was even clever than I’d realised; in the first row on that side of the plane there’s a huge gap in front of the seats, so even Mr Kimi had plenty of legroom. A very nice American man sat in the third seat. He was in New Zealand researching for a book he’s writing about movies, and was on his way to visit one of the Narnia sets. He was a Lord of the Rings fan, too, so of course the three of us talked non-stop all the way. As the weather had set in, there was nothing to distract us into looking out the windows.
We arrived in Christchurch on time, picked up the keys to our rental and quickly grabbed our bags. The little car was waiting in the car park, and something looked familiar about it. It took only a few moments to realise it was the same car we rented a year ago. How did I recognise it? Well, a number plate that appears to spell “BONK” is fairly memorable.
BONK headed north, and the rain set in. It rained hard. I knew the forecast hadn’t been good, and I’d repeatedly said we wouldn’t let the weather spoil our fun, but the heavy rain was testing my resolve. I’ll say right now that, despite that first day, rain was not a problem.
First stop was a sentimental one: the small settlement of Leithfield (near Amberley), where my father’s grandparents settled. It’s a tiny place with a satisfyingly old-fashioned pub, where we had a disappointing coffee and got directions to the cemetery. We found the grave of one set of great-grandparents, and got soaked in the process.
Next we stopped for lunch at a winery. North Canterbury has many, and we chose Waipara Springs. We had a pleasant lunch with a glass each of Riesling, and ordered a case of Riesling to follow us home.
North along the Canterbury coast to Kaikoura. The coast is spectacular in this area: rocky and wave-lashed. Even the rain couldn’t spoil it.
Kaikoura is a pleasant little town with mountains behind it and the sea before it. The name means “a meal of crayfish [or rock lobster, as they’re called for export]”, and crayfish was the town’s main revenue earner until whale-watching (see tomorrow's entry) got popular.
Our destination for the evening was Kaikoura’s very own Irish Pub, Donegal House. This place was fun. The accomodation’s fine, but the real attraction is the pub. We ate in, a fine meal of crayfish in front of a roaring fire (necessary even this late in the year; it was cold!). A cat called Guinness was dozing in front of the fire, and he and I got acquainted. When I was booking this place I’d realised that the owner is a (distant) cousin of Mr Kimi’s, and I’d made sure he knew we were coming. We had a good long chat after dinner, while enjoying the DVDs he was showing of some fine Irish folk groups. A very pleasant way to end the day.
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