New Zealand - Day 6

November 8, 2010

Today is the day I have been least looking forward to: the day of our longest drive from Dunedin to Christchurch. We planned a route that would hopefully be scenic but honestly had no idea what to expect. Thankfully, Lisa had done some research on other cool things to do in and around Dunedin before we left town so we ended up having a very fun and eventful day after all.

This morning, after a Starbucks run (yes, they have Starbucks in New Zealand!), James and I visited Cadbury World!! He's a big fan of Cadbury Easter eggs and we were very excited to discover that not only does this company make a whole lot more than chocolate eggs, but one of their primary factories was only a couple of minutes from our hotel! One of the big things to do there is take a tour of the factory. Unfortunately we didn't have time for that, so the staff were very gracious and at least let us take some pictures and buy a few things from the gift shop. There were so many different chocolate products, from candy bars to boxed assortments to baking goods and hot cocoa!

After we got our fill of sugar and creme, we piled back into the car and drove around trying to find Baldwin Street - the world's steepest street according to The Guinness Book of World Records. It's got a 35% grade and couldn't be paved with traditional tar and asphalt because it would slide down the hill on a warm day. We honestly weren't sure what to expect before we arrived, but it really was unbelievably steep. James decided he wanted to try driving up to the top, and it was so scary! The car almost didn't make it to the top. When we got up there we parked and took a few pictures. It was hard to walk down because we felt like we might over-balance and tumble all the way down. It was a totally random stop but we actually had a lot of fun!

Looking down from the top. AHHH!

I set the camera on the pavement to take this picture

so you can get an idea of the crazy angle on which

these houses are built.

Next we drove up the coast and stopped to see one of the natural mysteries of the South Island: The Moeraki Boulders. They are big, perfectly round boulders formed by ancient sediments and slowly exposed again through erosion. They look so unnatural - like dinosaur eggs or something the aliens might have left behind. haha. We certainly had fun climbing all over them and taking pictures.

From there we drove a couple of hours inland to see the beautiful region of Twizel, which consists of rolling, golden grasslands, stunning turquoise lakes and a section of the South Alps that includes New Zealand's tallest mountain: Mt. Cook. For those nerds in the audience, this region served as the backdrop for the largest battle at the end of The Lord of the Rings trilogy: The battle of Pelennor Fields. Twizel had the perfect combination of massive, snow-capped mountains overlooking sweeping, uninhabited fields. It's definitely an impressive landscape.

One of the most memorable parts of the drive was seeing the water in that region. Due to glacial silt in the lakes and reservoirs, they are a bright, almost unnatural shade of turquoise. It was strange seeing water that is a brighter blue than the sky. We got out a couple of times to take pictures of the lakes and Mt. Cook, then continued on our long (7 hour) drive to Christchurch.

Check out that water!

Mt. Cook across the lake.

Christchurch is the second largest city in New Zealand but still only has about 300,000 residents. On the outskirts of the city are sprawling suburbs with lots of shops and restaurants. We also noticed they have a lot of home improvement stores. We found out later that Christchurch is called The Garden City because one of their primary hobbies is gardening.

We didn't see any damage or evidence of the recent 7.0 earthquake that we had heard so much about until we got into the city center where our hotel was located. There were construction cones everywhere, lots of dust and gravel in the gutters, parts of the store fronts were missing and most of the upstairs windows were broken or boarded up. We heard that they are still having repeated aftershocks and so I don't know how quickly they will be able to be replaced. Many of the businesses there in downtown had been closed or relocated for the time being. It was a very ominous feeling as we arrived at the door of The Living Space Apartment Hotel.

On the website this looked like a very modern, chic place to stay in the inner city, but in actuality it's more like an upscale backpacker's hostel. We had a 2 bed, 1 bath apartment, furnished with what looks like dorm furniture. But each couple got their own room and it had a kitchenette where we could make our own breakfast so, for the price, we really can't complain.

The best part about staying here is that we were located within walking distance of the shops and restaurants on the river front as well as the heart of the city: Cathedral Square. We ate dinner at a restaurant called the Coyote Street Bar & Restaurant. It was kind of a Mexican fusion place. The food was good but, as was typical in New Zealand, it took forever for our food to be delivered. We've decided it's because they work with fresh ingredients and probably wait to cook the entire meal until after you order it, which makes for incredible food (if you're willing to wait for it.) It seems like most kiwis are more than willing. They have such a laid back culture that I'm sure taking 2 hours for dinner it not a big deal to them at all. Such a New Zealand attitude - no worries! Cheers!