New Zealand Tour Guide: Part III (Akaroa and Christchurch)

Jo, Mary and I headed north to tour the south island. Akaroa was our first stop.  Holyfreakamoly - that place was AMAZING!  Just. so. pretty.

We drove along the scenic route and it was quite the drive! The switchbacks kept my passengers on the edge of their seats - they're not used to such narrow roads and driving on the "wrong" side of the road. The battery on my camera was dead, so I don't have pictures of the route (which follows the edge of a crater).  Unfortunately, by the time we got to our accommodation (a Top 10 Holiday Park) the clouds had settled in, so we couldn't see the pretty blue water.  BUT, the sun coming through the clouds looked really neat!

We strolled around town to find something to eat and search the town for French influences.  There was a little walk along the water and it brought us to this lighthouse:

Now, there is a highly recommended 2- or 4-day walk on the Banks Peninsula track (4 days starts at $230), but we opted to choose our own adventure.  (It would be really awesome if I could find someone to go back and do the track with me!) 

Our first walk was down Pigeon Bay.  This was a 5 hour walk in great weather.  We crossed mostly agriculture land and so the track wasn't too challenging.

We tried doing an hour of the Skyline Circuit that evening, but the weather blew clouds in (again). 

After our time was up in Akaroa, we moved on to Christchurch for a night at the Chester Street Backpackers.  It was really important to me that I share this part of New Zealand with my friends, so that they could see a city that they were helping rebound from the earthquakes by being there and spending money in town.  During the day we walked around the city (the container mall in particular) and checked out the cardboard cathedral.  

After our brief stay in The Garden City, we headed west to Mt. Cook National Park - my visitors' favorite place out of all the places we visited!  I'll post those pictures soon. :)

New Zealand Tour Guide: Part One

Today, I went for a spectacular run along Swampy Ridge.  I started from home, headed up the Pineapple Track, turned towards the Swampy Summit track and then followed signs into the Silverpeaks.  This is the same route that I ran a few weeks ago when the weather was horrible.  I didn't go down Swampy Ridge because the fog was so thick, but today's view was amazing!

Pacific Ocean (center), Otago Peninsula (top right), Swampy Ridge track (foreground)

I was aiming for a 5-hour run as part of my Northburn 50k training. I finished it in 4 hours 20 minutes and felt great at the end. Not too shabby.

So, what did I think about out there all by myself?  Well, I reflected a lot on how my PhD is coming along (I've been here for two years and have one more to go!) and I thought a lot about how fun it was to have my friend Jo and her Aunt Mary in New Zealand. I loved playing Tour Guide for the two of them!  I hope to get pictures up from their visit soon because I'm leading a tramping trip this weekend and I'll want to post photos of that, too.

Before I do that, here's a quick, rough intro to their trip:

Days 1 & 2: Fly from New York to Dunedin, New Zealand
Days 3 - 7: Dunedin
Days 7 - 9: Akaroa (Banks Peninsula)
Days 9 - 10: Christchurch
Days 10 - 13: Mt. Cook
Days 13 - 15: Queenstown
Days 15 - 18: Dunedin

This trip was heavily centered around walking/hiking and I think we saw some really great places/scenery.  We spent 1-5 hours at a go on our walks (some days we had more than one long walk).  Some walks were flat and some were steep hikes with steps.  I would recommend this sort of itinerary for others who want to see a lot of New Zealand's south island on foot, but with some minor tweaks.  I'd cut a day off of Mt. Cook or Queenstown to go to Te Anau.  Fiordland is beautiful and I'm sad that Jo and Mary saw it mostly from the bus as we made our way to Doubtful Sound.

So that's the teaser for the next lot of blog entries. YAY!

First Marathon in New Zealand

Clearly, I'm having an "omg,Ihaven'tupdatedinages" moment.  When I was looking at my photos of the albatross colony, I realized that I didn't post anything about my marathon!  

The Christchurch Airport Marathon was my first marathon in New Zealand (other marathons include: Philadelphia, Wineglass, and the run leg of Ironman Lake Placid).

On our way to the start:

And the finish...

I pulled off a 4:08 with minimal training, so I'm confident that I can go sub 4 hours if I'm not injured or sick.  However, it has been about 5 weeks since the race and I'm still dealing with a sprained foot.  There's another marathon in September that I hoped to train for, but I'm not confident that I can build up my training volume in time.  I have a feeling that I'll look into an ultra marathon later in the year instead.

Antarctic Adventures in Christchurch

The International Antarctic Centre in Christchurch is a must-see for any visitor.

I had SO much fun!  We went on Queen's Birthday and so the price was more affordable then non-holidays ($25, I think, compared to $65).  With the entry fee we got to watch the penguin encounter (penguin feeding and talk), experience an antarctic storm (complete with frigid temperatures and wind gusts), view a 4D movie of Antarctica's scenery and wildlife and travel in the super cool all terrain amphibious Hagglund (think of a Duck Tour going up and around short steep hills).

I mentioned penguins... here they are!

Okay, so maybe the picture leaves a bit to be desired.  How about a little video of some of the little blues?

I enjoyed all the interactive aspects of the center.  I even left my mark here:

What is the one thing you would take with you to Antarctica? Emerson's Pilsner.

So, the whole experience got me thinking... New Zealand isn't that far from Antarctica, right?

Christchurch

 In 2006 and 2011, my hometown and the surrounding communities were dramatically affected by devastating flooding.  So, this month as I set out to walk around post-earthquake Christchurch I thought I had a small sense of what the local community experienced.  Not so much.  New Zealand's 2nd largest city experienced much much more than I can ever imagine.  But, what's so incredible about this place are the examples of how this city picked itself up and found ways to get back to business.

Here's the Pallet Pavillion:

It had a flea market/farmer's market vibe inside the pallet walls.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the walk around Christchurch:

In the foreground is a cafe constructed from shipping containers as part of the 'container mall'.  In the background is a parking garage that is no longer in use due to quake damage.  I just love how unique the stores look because they are made from containers of all colors.

This is part of a mural that I walked past:

It says:

Amidst the shards of glass
& twisted steel
Beside the fallen brick
& scattered concrete
we began to understand
that there is beauty in the
broken
Strangers do not live here anymore

Continuing on, we reached the section of town where the Cardboard Cathedral was constructed.

The Cathedral is the triangular object.  The white chairs are a tribute to the 185 victims of the 2011 earthquake.

Here's the front of the cathedral:

I have more photos of Christchurch (PENGUIN PHOTOS!), but those will have to wait for another day.  Stay tuned!