The weather in Christchurch wasn’t the most salubrious; showers and some rain, but it was an interesting place to walk around for a few hours. A very excellent Botanical Garden and nice old buildings in the city, including a cathedral and a stream they called the Avon, where you could take punt rides. Just so very British!
The road north was rather uninteresting – generally flat terrain, rain, cloud, fog and too far inland to see what the ocean was doing.
Eventually we did get back on the ocean where we found some nice beaches and a coastal track that Catherine walked. We stopped briefly in Kaikoura where there was a very nice coastal track.
The coast north of Kaikoura was a bit of a surprise. I had expected sand beaches and low-lying land, but instead the hills (can’t really call them mountains) descended right to the sea and there were rocky beaches and headlands for quite a distance. Hundreds of seals were littering the rocks along the way. Sunshine and blue skies would have been nice, but there were clear spots and a misty ambience to the shoreline that was quite nice.
By Wednesday we had arrived at Blenheim, a city of about 30,000 and the last large place before Picton where the ferry to the North Island docks. We found their library had APN Internet access so we made use of that before heading off to the nearby coast to look for hikes and camping.
Thursday morning was still windy, cloudy and showery, so we did one hike and headed for Picton, found a campground, got some food, found a fish and chips place and did some hiking. The weather continued to improve so that we were able to enjoy spots of sunshine and get our stuff dried out.
The weather forecast seems to indicate better weather for Friday so we’re hoping that the ferry ride over will offer some nice views. Where we’re camped here in Picton we can see the ferries as they come and go out through Queen Charlotte Sound.
We have 6 days left in NZ and will have most of 5 of those days making our way north out along the west coast of the southern North Island, past New Plymouth and Mt Egmont and further north to Auckland.
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