The mad New Zealand weather kept me indoors for the beginning of the week but when the clouds cleared I managed to venture into Christchurch for a bit of a retail reccy and a look around. I visited the Christchurch aquarium and Kewi centre, where I saw two real live kewi birds and a shark.
We were informed on Wednesday of the Samoan Tsunami, and that it may be heading for NZ. By time it reached us it was low tide and was only 40cm high, but with a big population of Samoans in NZ, it still caused a big shock.
On Wednesday night we were happy to welcome Brad and Kelly from Brisbane. I know Brad and Kelly from when they lived in Bristol and it was great to see them again. The three of us went up to Akaroa for the day, which turned out to be a day of unseasonal warmth and glorious sunshine. Akaroa is a little French town on the edge of an inland harbour and is so pretty. After an hour of driving through Tolkinesque countryside we arrived and had lunch at a restaurant called Bully Heyes; where I ate some of the nicest mussels I've ever eaten (and a kilo of them at that), garlic bread, good wine and lavender honey creme brulee, and the fact that we were sat outside facing the sunny harbour made it all the nicer.
Brad and Kelly left over the weekend so on Monday I took myself on a little day trip to Hanmar Springs, just North of Christchurch. This Spa town has hot springs baths and after the delightful weather in Akaroa, I was suprised to find it sleeting and snowing. Fortunately I had the hot pools to keep me warm, but running between them was freezing. On the way back we stopped at a winery and I got a little tipsy on a selection of samples, but it was all in the name of reserch.
No comments:
Post a Comment