Over to the South Island on the ferry again. Big swell leaving Wellington harbour but it was an exciting ride to be outside with the waves and, below, nearer the South Island, albatross and petrels. Another ferry on the horizon, heading for Wellington. Those wrist pressure bands for sea sickness - they work!
Car looks little down there - with bikes on.
First stop, Blenheim. Lovely cycle along the river paths and a night at the theatre watching Dan sing in Les Miserables. Next day, a bit of work picking olives for oil pressing. The trees are around Sue and Phil's house. Beginning the stripping of branches and dropping olives onto sheets of plastic for Phil to collect. He kept just ahead of us laying out sheets. That's guide dog in training Lincoln sniffing runaway olives.
Harvest about 100kg; made about 19 litres of oil and we scored a jar on the way back through Blenheim.
On to Christchurch, down the coast through Kaikoura and obligatory stop to watch baby seals and collect circular white stones at mint imperial beach (Kekerengu).
Mish got us an airy light-filled air B&B for six nights just out of the city and we had a good look around the city and environs.First up, an organic fruit and veg market where a guy told us about the panoramic view up on the Port Hills. Bought some veg and headed up into the hills. He was right.
The Port Hills are a large area between Christchurch and the port of Lyttleton (which sits on the edge of an old volcano). We did get a terrific view west to the Southern Alps.
And east over Lyttleton harbour which formed from the crater of that volcano many years ago. A beaut day, the hills full of walkers and bikers and one butterfly expert who showed us a rare one.
And then down narrow roads into Lyttleton for lunch.
Jase came down with a cold so Mish and I headed out without him and cycled around some of the residential red zones of the city. Red zones are areas where houses were so damaged in the 2011 quake that part of the rebuild process has been to demolish hundreds of them in big grids. They now look like parks and are acres of old gardens and roads and footpaths, with just walkers and cyclists allowed. There's a bit of foraging going on. All that remains to show that houses were here are the overgrown driveways.
Hardly anyone around. Eerie to stand in an intersection where no car will ever drive again.
In the city, the rebuild goes on. There are lots of new buildings and street art, and still lots of broken buildings and work to do. The cathedral is being rebuilt in the same style - after 10 years of debate about that - and it has a wonderful banner on the square. Here it is, from across the road inside the new library, which is a great space.
Walked down the road one night to trivial pursuit at the local pub (we came 11th out of 14 teams, but dinner was nice).
Cooled off in the Antarctic experience, including being shut in an ice room while they turned the wind chill up, and a ride in an all-terrain Hagglund vehicle.
Saw our old Newlands neighbours Robyn and Sean and went for a walk on their part of the coast, with oystercatchers.
Drove out to the French settlement of Akaroa on Banks Peninsula for the day. Very quiet there, no cruise ships and hardly any tourists. It was just us when we got out of the car at about 10am so we walked up a hill to earn lunch.
More cycling at Blenheim, going in a different direction this time.
And home on the ferry. In Picton for a waterfront walk with Sue before the afternoon sail. We're looking for rays.
That ferry ride was a cool but calm trip with albatross and orca and a rusty dog. Can you see it?
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