Month: April 2017

New Zealand: Akaroa

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Akaroa, South Island – March 30 to April 1, 2017

We left Pegasus Town and headed south to Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula.  It’s an historic French and British settlement nestled in the heart of an ancient volcano — previously an island formed by a volcanic cone. The volcano last erupted about 6 million years ago!

It’s the only place in New Zealand that France tried to colonize, but the British beat them to it. Despite their failed plan, the French settlers stayed, and many of their descendants are still residents of Akaroa today!  In addition, the French influence can be seen on the street signs (Rue Jolie, Rue Benoit, Rue Grehan, etc.) and names of shops, cafes, and other businesses.

 

On our way to Akaroa, we stopped for a few minutes in Little River for a snack and a quick look around.  Right next to where we stopped were silos converted into silostays!

Just outside Little River (about 15km from Akaroa), we ended up taking the Summit Road (aka Tourist Drive route) — thanks, Google Maps. While the views were spectacular after the fog (!) gave way, it was a narrow, unsealed (slightly muddy) road from the top to the bottom with no guard rails! I was not a fan…at all. In fact, I even offered to walk. Seriously.

(Mike Note: Jody may be taking a bit of poetic license in her use of the phrase “offered to walk”.  Maybe “demanded a reduction in speed” might be more accurate.  I will confirm this was the worst road and conditions we’ve faced, but also the most rewarding views).

About an hour later (it was probably really only 10 minutes) Mike drove us safely down to our house.  It was a little red bach (pronounced “batch” and in NZ means a modest holiday house) perched up on a small hillside overlooking the village and the harbor with a spectacular view!  The manager of the property met us there to give us the rundown.  In addition, he pointed out a sign and informed us about what to do in the event of an earthquake and/or tsunamis!  (Given the fact that Akaroa felt the quake in Kaikoura in November, aftershocks are still a real possibility.)  It was good info to have but was still a bit unnerving for us landlocked folk.

  

Here we are with a view from our balcony during the day…

 

and here’s the view in the morning as the sun comes up!

 

In side our “bach” was this painting of Popeye and in the harbour was a boat called “Popeye!” 🙂

 

By that time it was time for lunch, so we headed into the village and had a delicious lunch (saffron seafood chowder and blue cod fish and chips) at Ma Maison, which also happened to be right next to a playground! 🙂  On our way to the restaurant, we noticed this sign on a bridge referencing the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II (2 June 1953)!

 

The rest of the afternoon was spent roaming around the beautiful village, stopping at the tourist info center, walking to the wharf, having ice cream, visiting the library to use the wifi (very well organized and welcoming with lots of info and reading brochures.  They even had a sign by the door where people place pins indicating their hometown/country), checking out the small cinema (only 36 seats in one theater and 15 in the other with a full coffee shop and bar for drinks and snacks).

   

After a lovely dinner on our balcony of ½ price savories from the French bakery, we walked back into town to check out another playground I’d found on the map.  We took a few moments to do chin ups and have a few laughs and check out the moon coming up and out from behind the clouds.  We also walked past the Coronation Library (built in 1875), which was renamed after renovations in 1911 to commemorate the coronation of King George V.  The playground, ended up being at the Akaroa Area School playground which was set on a beautiful campus for grades K-12. 

The next morning, we did a short hike to Stanley’s Peak on a fairly steep path up through some sheep pastures for some amazing views.  We looked down over the town and the harbor and decided that below us everything looked miniature – like a set from railroad track village or a Grandma Moses painting!

On the way back to our “bach,” we stopped at Le Boucherie (butcher shop) to pick up some sausages and a baguette.  We had a quick lunch of ham, chicken, cheese, jelly on baguette (each person choosing their fillings), gathered our things, and then headed to the pier for a 2½-hour sailboat cruise!  

Before we left the dock, we got to see a couple of stingrays swimming around. They are huge!!  They were still there when we got back, only this time they were eating some fish remains that a fisherman had thrown in, so we watched as they floated on top of the fish and then disappeared below with the fish.

The sailboat cruise was wonderful!!  The wind wasn’t as cooperative as we and the captain would have liked, thus requiring the use of the motor a few times, but we did have the opportunity to sail a bit, too.  It was so quiet and peaceful!

   

Both G and L had nice long turns at the helm. There were 8 of us on board, not including the captain – our family, a mother and daughter from Germany/Bavaria, and a couple also from Germany.

 

We saw lots of Hector’s Dolphins, an endangered dolphin only found in New Zealand, who loved to catch the waves and surf a bit right next to the boat.

   

We also saw beautiful cliffs and a point called Elephant Point because it looked just like the head of an elephant.  Mike won a chocolate fish for guessing the correct name! 🙂  We all ended up with a chocolate, though, which was nice.  

We also saw a beautiful cave called Cathedral Cave.  

   

We also saw a few little blue penguins, who live in a cave on the other side of the harbor.

 

We saw the opening of the harbor out to the sea and learned that it would take 5 weeks to sail to Antarctica (3,000+ nautical miles), but heading out in that direction would bring you there!  

We saw a salmon farm and a mussels farm and learned more about the history of the bay and settlers and just generally enjoyed the ride and the scenery! 

  

We got off the boat and headed to Murphy’s Fish Shop (the same Murphy family that settled in Akaroa in the 1800’s) – a food stand on the jetty – and shared a cup of seafood chowder and an order of salmon and chips.  We took the salmon and chips down to the waterfront, where the 4 of us polished them off in about 30 seconds!  

G and L walked down to the beach to skip rocks.  L helped G as she wasn’t quite getting them to skip. 🙂 

On our last morning, we packed, cleaned, and checked out of the bach and then walked into town to the Autumn Harvest Festival at “The Old Potter’s Garden.”  It was a benefit for a health care center in the area and had all sorts of foods to sample/purchase, music, and tables to sit and enjoy all amid an absolutely magical garden with various paths off into more wooded areas, a giant vine covered pergola, etc., including a cooking demonstration.

And then we were on our way to Hanmer Springs.

 

New Zealand: A Day in Christchurch

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Another day trip we made while we were staying in Pegasus Town was to Christchurch as we didn’t spend any time there when we arrived…just long enough to pick up our rental car.

As we drove into the city, we realized how much work is still being done after the earthquakes in 2010/2011. Yes, after 6+ years, they are essentially building a new central business district (CBD).  Our plan was to head to Quake City first, essentially a museum focused on the 2010/2011 quakes and general earthquake information.  The roads to get there weren’t always available, but we found our way to a parking lot right next to the Re:Start Mall, which was developed out of the need to get people back to the CBD even before there would be new buildings built.

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The mall is basically built out of shipping containers that house shops, cafes, and gifts, and even banks and post shops (post offices).  In addition, they’ve incorporated a variety of art, including some amazing sculptures that tell the stories of ordinary heroes from the Christchurch area. To read about some of them and see a few more pictures, click on the image below.

Quake City was really well done — very interesting, informative, important, eye opening, sad, and, to be honest, a little terrifying. There was a wonderful video playing on a loop with interviews of people and their experience, sharing what they went through and in some cases stories about loved ones they lost.  They also had actual television and radio announcements that announced the earthquakes running in a room near pictures and items recovered and saved.

From a scientific perspective, there was information about liquefaction, seismology, geology, and future technology that may be helpful.

We were really glad we went through the museum, but it struck us all a bit more than we expected.  Seeing the first-hand accounts was really quite intense.  The smiles on the kids’ faces above aren’t quite as easy going as usual…we were all sobered as we walked out. We talked later about the differences in natural disasters.

While we have tornadoes, they can usually be predicted to a certain degree — conditions are right, etc.  Where earthquakes are concerned, there’s really not a way to predict them and they happen with regularity in New Zealand…often without knowing it because the majority are considered “light.”  I found this site in case you’re interested in seeing just how often they are recorded: https://www.geonet.org.nz/quakes

After Quake City and our increased appreciation for earthquakes and recovery, we needed to change gears and focus on something else.  What better way to do that than going to a coffee shop that sends food though pneumatic tubes and provides drinking water through old dentist equipment and vintage sewing machines!!

C1 was the place we needed!

 

G and L near the tube by our table waiting for the bell (see photo below) to ring.

There it is with Mike’s name on it! 🙂  Time to take it out.

Open it up…and…curly fries!!

The next tube has G’s name on it with sliders and curly fries inside! 🙂  It’s a pretty cool way to have food delivered, but what makes it even better is that the food is really delicious!

And then there were the water dispensers…how cool are these??

     

And I almost forgot to mention the “magic” bookcases…When they were closed, they looked like bookcases…

But when you took a step closer, they slid open to reveal a hallway to the kitchen and toilets!  And from the backside (in the hallway), you could see the pages of the books (instead of the spines)!

 

One more bit of fun…a pinball machine! 🙂

Our next stop after C1 was to the Margaret Mahy Playground, which came highly recommended by various sources.  Along the way, we saw more storage containers blocking access to buildings waiting to be torn down and a “tree museum” with nine trees in box planters that is a project that is part of Christchurch’s Greening the Rubble trust. The sign in front of it was significant.

The Margaret Mahy Playground was amazing!!

New Zealand: Willowbank Wildlife Reserve

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While staying in Pegasus Town, we spent a rainy but great day at the Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, which was down the road just a bit.  It’s located in a beautiful natural environment so that all of the animals are either in specially designed enclosures or wandering free, which is lovely!  At the entrance, you can pay for animal food and then hand feed many of them.

The reserve is in three sections: “Wild New Zealand with exotic wildlife, Heritage New Zealand with livestock and other introduced farmyard animals and birds, and Natural New Zealand with native species and some of their introduced predators.” There are colorful signs posted all around the reserve with lots of great information.

Here’s the sign welcoming us into the reserve.

First stop…the eels!!  We had a look at them for a while as they are so slimy and unique.

We came back later to watch them during feeding time.  After he was done feeding them, the zookeeper said the kids could give them a feel on their backs but warned them about keeping their hands away from the mouths because they bite.  As you can see in the videos below, it made it a little hard to try to touch them when they move around so much.

Note: The voices on the videos below aren’t ours. There were other families standing close to where Mike was video taping that you can hear.  We were standing on the dock opposite from Mike.

Pretty white duck swimming in the water.

The fallow deer were the first to realized that the kids had food in their pockets and followed us along the fence line! 🙂

Here’s the sign for the emu, and there’s a very shy emu peeking through the leaves!

 

We thought these geese were so cute with their curly feathers!  It looks like they’re all mussed up from the rain, but their feathers are just like that!

 

G having a gander and greeting a goose.

This little wallaby didn’t mind the rain, but the rest of his family and friends tried to find a little shelter from the rain under the nearby trees.

We’re pretty sure this is the type of monkey featured in the Night at the Museum movies.

These little otters just kept slipping in and out of the water and following each other everywhere making the sound brand new puppies make!

 

    

Caught a quick picture of this weka — a native NZ bird — as it walked by us.  It’s a flightless bird about the size of a chicken.

              

This Sebright chicken looked like someone had carefully outlined the edges of its feathers in black!

Of course, G and L had to have a go on the swings! 🙂

A traditional Maori hut in an hunting village.

This is the kea, an alpine parrot native to New Zealand.

We have no idea what this little bird is, but we thought it was so sweet and had such pretty coloring.  He was sitting on the ledge of another bird habitat.

 

We don’t have any pictures of the infamous kiwi, but the reserve has a wonderful area where they have a kiwi habitat.  It’s very dark (they’re nocturnal) and quiet, but you can hear them foraging in the ground and once you’re eyes adjust, it’s possible to see one.  We were able to watch one digging in the leaves and walking around!

  

Before we left for the day, G and L gave the last of the food to the fallow deer. 🙂

 

New Zealand: Pegasus Town

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Pegasus Town, South Island, New Zealand March 22-March 30.

Delia was at the airport to pick us up at the start of our Australian adventures and graciously offered to give us a ride back to the airport at the end of our adventures in Australia.  

While we were all sad to say goodbye to Australia and good friends, we were also excited about continuing our adventures in New Zealand.  We had a nice, short flight via China Air to Christchurch.  

 

After we arrived in Christchurch, we picked up our rental car and headed about 25 minutes north to Pegasus Town. It’s a small but growing town, where we spent a lot of time just enjoying the small-town feel.

A playground a couple blocks away next to a centrally located man-made lake.

Kids across the street to play with who were a brother (G’s age) and a sister (a couple years younger than L).  They had a blast together — playing basketball, jumping on the trampoline, going to the playground, and best of all using wheels — multiple skateboards and scooters — that they shared with G and L!! 😉

 

A really nice coffee shop and restaurant, where we had fish and chips one night and then enjoyed books from their “library,” while listening to live music!

 

The ocean beach was just a 20-minute walk through the woods.

Time to hang out and bake!  L and I made shortbread one night. We’ve got a super easy recipe.  It’s so easy, in fact, that you can make it with minimal baking tools, which in our case was necessary — a bowl, a spoon, and an empty 100 g glass coffee jar! (Scroll to the bottom for the recipe! It’s not necessarily healthy, but it’s darn tasty!;) ) 

 

Another day, G made a batch of these and shared them with the neighbors! 🙂  They were delicious!

 

 

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Simple Shortbread

• 250 grams of butter
• 100 grams of sugar
• 200 grams of flour

Melt half the butter and cut the other half into small pieces.  Place in a large mixing bowl.  Add sugar and mix with spoon until creamy and well blended.  Add flour and mix well.  When mixed, it should be a soft crumbly texture, but not too dry.  Transfer to a greased 8×10 inch baking pan.  Gently press the mixture into the pan so it is firm and not loose.  Poke all around with a fork and bake at 150 Celsius for about 30 minutes, just until the edges start to get golden.

Let it set for 5 to 10 minutes and then cut into squares or rectangles.  If you let it fully cool, it’ll be hard to cut, and you’ll end up just breaking it apart.