Castle Hill

There are so many incredible places around here that we’ve seen or heard of but haven’t been able to explore yet.  Castle Hill was one of them.  We’ve driven by it several times on the way to and from Arthur’s Pass, but hadn’t actually stopped there until yesterday.  It’s an impressive area with all kinds of peculiar-looking boulders and rocks that look like they tumbled from some mountaintop or slope millions of years ago.  It’s also known for its climbing routes, so we packed up our climbing gear and planned to do some sport climbing!  Unfortunately, lots of the routes required gear that we don’t have yet, so we were only able to climb a couple routes.  However, it was still fun to scramble up the rocks and hike around.  We also heard that the battle scene from the movie “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” was filmed somewhere around here!


Enjoying lunch at Castle Hill

Looking for routes to climb

Little Keith

Interesting rock formations

A Walk on the Beach

New Brighton beach is about 20 minutes from where we live now – just on the edge of Christchurch.  We spent a lot of time here when we first arrived in Christchurch as our campsite was just down the road.  Sometimes we come here for an evening stroll.



Pretty, pearly clouds.

It’s fun to pop the seaweed pods.

A stray kite.

Christchurch at Night

The view of Christchurch at night from the Port Hills is amazing.  Unfortunately, these pictures just don’t do it justice, but they’re still pretty cool!

Arthur’s Pass

Last weekend Keith and I took a short trip to Arthur’s Pass again.  It’s only a couple of hours from Christchurch and has numerous walks and trails to explore.  We stayed at a basic (but free!) campsite called Hawdon’s Shelter.  It was nice and quiet with only a few other campers.  Despite the crazy sandflies, we had a great time!

 

Our new friend.



Tomtits like coffee, too.



Going on a hike.



The fog is starting to lift!



We had to take our shoes off to cross the freezing river. 
I may have had piggy-backrides the rest of the times we
had to cross...



Hiking along the river.

South Island

Our first month on the South Island: 

First views of the South Island

The South Island

·         New apartment! – within a week of arriving in Christchurch, we managed to find an apartment!  This was amazing since it’s apparently very difficult to find apartments ("flats") here.  It is also a very fitting place for us to live as the streets surrounding us have names like “Coleridge”, “Wordsworth”, “Shakespeare”, “Tennyson”, and “Byron”! 

·         Exploring Christchurch – There are so many fun things to do in Christchurch!  There is a new mall (called Re: START) made almost entirely of shipping containers, there’s a Nando’s restaurant, there are several beautiful beaches, and many picturesque hills.  There is an amazing road called Summit Road, which climbs up the hills and allows you to drive along the top of them, giving you an amazing view of the city and the ocean.  A couple weeks ago we went to Victoria Park on Saturday and Sunday to watch movies in the park projected on a shipping container outdoors.

Sumner – a suburb in Christchurch

·         Keith got a job! – Just two days after moving into the apartment Keith accepted a job with Duncan Taylor Builders.  It seems like the perfect company for Keith to work for, and he’s enjoying it so far.

·         We've attended churches – We have tried several churches in Christchurch that are great places to worship God and meet people.  We just have to decide on which one to start attending regularly.

·        Aoraki Mt. Cook National Park – Three weeks ago, we took our first trip on the South Island.  We drove a couple hours southwest and reached a pretty glacial lake, Lake Tekapo (TEK-apoh).  A little further on we came to Lake Pukaki, another glacial lake.  The sun had come out at this point, which made the lake look spectacularly blue.  On the first day we went on a short hike to Tasman Glacier.  The next day we hiked through the Hooker Valley towards the base of Mt. Cook.  We had a spectacular view of Mount Cook almost the entire way - it was stunning!  We are so excited to be living less than 4.5 hours from the highest mountain in New Zealand!

Church of the Good Shepherd on Lake Tekapo

Lake Tekapo

Lake Pukaki

Lake Pukaki

Lake Pukaki

The path to Tasman Glacier

Leaving Tasman Glacier

Mt. Cook

Hooker Glacier below Mt. Cook

Keith testing out the frigid glacial waters!

Lake Pukaki (and Mt. Cook in the distance)

·         Akaroa – We took a short day trip to visit Akaroa, a small town settled by the French.

Akaroa

Akaroa Harbour

View from Summit Road

·        Arthur’s Pass – Last Saturday Keith and I drove two hours to get to Arthur's Pass, the highest mountain pass in New Zealand.  There are many beautiful trails to be hiked from there.  We took a short hike through Bealey Valley.

Excited about hiking!

Bealey Valley Trail

·        Rainstorm – This week we experienced a crazy rainstorm with strong winds and non-stop rain for two days.  The storm resulted in flooding all over the city, and was apparently the worst rainstorm since 1975.

Arrival in New Zealand

We arrived in Auckland, New Zealand on January 21.  We spent 10 days on the North Island before arriving on the South Island.  Here are some of the things we did and places we visited:

·         Customs and biohazard – Clearing customs and biohazard at the airport in New Zealand is no small feat!  We waited hours as everyone’s bags were meticulously checked.  Unfortunately, being campers, we had to go through extra searching as our tent and hiking boots had to be cleaned from all the germs of southern Africa.

·         New car – Within three days we found and bought a silver 2000 Mazda Demio to be our very own New Zealand car.  This lucky vehicle gets to take us all over New Zealand!

·         Silo Park – We met Bex and Theresa who took us to Silo Park in Auckland.  We enjoyed food from the dinner market as well as the movie “The Lion King”, which was projected on the side of one of the old silos.  The park was completely packed out with people.

Achilles Point in Auckland

·         Paihia and Bay of Islands – We drove up to Northland and enjoyed some sunny (and not-so-sunny) days there.  We took a boat cruise around the Bay of Islands and saw about 20 dolphins playing around!  We also cruised through a large hole in a rock, which is aptly named "Hole in the Rock".

Dolphins in the Bay of Islands

Sailboat in the Bay of Islands

The Hole in the Rock

·         Cape Reinga – This is almost the northernmost tip of New Zealand.  The views were beautiful from here.

The lighthouse at Cape Reinga

Where the Tasman Sea meets the
Pacific Ocean (Cape Reinga)

·         Te Paki – We played around in these massive sand dunes and especially enjoyed running down them!

Keith having fun on the Te Paki Sand Dunes

·         Hobbiton – This was an amazing highlight.  The detail that went into the making of Hobbiton is unfathomable!  The Hobbit holes are so colourful and beautiful with their individual gardens, Bag End is perfect, and we loved The Green Dragon.  It makes me wish I was a Hobbit so I could live there!

Hobbit hole

Even as a Hobbit Keith is a carpenter

Hobbiton – The Green Dragon in the distance

Bag End

Our new home!

Bag End from below

The mill in Hobbiton

Cider at The Green Dragon

Keith the Hobbit

Which way to Hobbiton? 

·         Napier – A beautiful town on the coast.  We walked around the beach and town for a bit, and then spent a couple hours watching the movie “Frozen”.  We hadn’t watched a movie in a long time and it was great!

·         Hastings – We stayed over at a friend and his family’s house for a night.  We enjoyed getting their Canadian/Kiwi perspective on the country and seeing the city where they live.

Huka Falls (on our way to Hastings)

Te Mata in Hastings

·         Ferry – After a 2½-hour wait on the ferry, it finally departed Wellington and brought us to Picton!

Our last views of the North Island

 

We enjoyed our whirlwind tour of the North Island, but we were especially anxious to
get to the South Island and start looking for jobs and an apartment!