We’re on a 6-week motorhome trip around the South Island of New Zealand, and just left Aoraki/Mt Cook. We were headed to Christchurch, but an incident that was out of our control caused a change of plan, and we ended up driving to Akaroa instead.
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| Banks Peninsula viewed from the road |
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| Akaroa Harbour, Banks Peninsula, NZ |
So we limped into, then stayed one night in Christchurch. Early the next morning, we drove straight to Novus Christchurch to get the windscreen fixed. They did a great job, but because we were already on the south eastern side of busy and large Christchurch City, we carried on to Banks Peninsula and Akaroa. It was a beautiful and scenic drive, that went a long way to make us feel better about our incident.
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| Boatsheds and wetlands driving into Akaroa |
The Akaroa village sits on the Akaroa Harbour, an old water-filled volcanic crater that cuts into the southern part of the Banks Peninsula. We’d wanted to see the area as we’d heard the village was a quaint French/British settlement, and the harbour had interesting wetlands with an abundance of bird and marine life.
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| Quaint township of Akaroa, Banks Peninsula, NZ |
Arriving in Akaroa, we found a quaint wee town, with a range of historic buildings. Some date back to the mid-1800’s and are still being used for shops, restaurants, and homes. Its all wrapped around the very picturesque harbour, with its own tiny lighthouse.
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| Marg walking around Akaroa Harbour, Banks Peninsula, NZ |
We had a wander around and a pleasant lunch harbourside. The weather was overcast with a storm threatening, and not great for seeing marine life. So we viewed the wetland birdlife, shopped for supplies, then drove back to Christchurch and booked into the Top10 campsite for a few nights.
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| Cardboard Transitional Cathedral, Christchurch, NZ |
The next morning, we drove into Christchurch City centre. On the way, we spotted the unusual A-framed Christchurch Transitional Cardboard Cathedral. It was opened in 2013 to temporarily replace the original and beautiful historic Christ Church Anglican Cathedral, which was significantly damaged in a devastating earthquake of 2011. The historic Cathedral is now being restored.
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| Former University of Canterbury, now the Christchurch Arts Centre, Christchurch, NZ |
Arriving in the city centre, we parked at the Botanic Gardens while we explored the city on foot. As we walked around, we marvelled at how many of Christchurch’s historic buildings had been restored since the 2011 earthquake. For example, the stunning stone University of Canterbury campus, which looks beautiful and is now the Christchurch Arts Centre.
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| Christ's College, Christchurch (founded in 1850) |
We also thought Christ's College, the oldest independent school in New Zealand, to be a standout, and there were several other beautiful historic buildings that we admired. But then we came to areas that had been destroyed by the earthquake and just left. We were saddened to see so many partially ruined buildings that are still standing, but looking dismally unused.
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| Marg at the Riverside Market, Christchurch, NZ |
Our next stop was the new Riverside Market and we had a lovely browse around there, impressed with its vibrancy, and the wide range of goods on offer. We bought a roll of yummy, locally made salami to take away with us, then wandered around a bit more.
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| (Top) Bridge of Remembrance, Isaac Theatre. (Below) Avon River, Christchurch Cathedral |
Nearby, we enjoyed seeing the Bridge of Remembrance that crosses the Avon River as a memorial to soldiers of the First World War, improvements along the Avon River, the quaint Isaac Theatre Royal that dates back to 1908, the famous Christchurch trams, and more. The city has had to, and obviously still is, rebuilding itself after the earthquake, but what has been restored to date, looks good.
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| Botanical Gardens, Christchurch, NZ |
Then, after a long day, we wandered back through the
Botanical Gardens to collect our motorhome. A few days later, it was time to
move on, so we packed up and drove out of town, driving along the eastern
coastline to visit vineyards and quaint towns.
This is part of a bigger blog on our travels around the South Island of New Zealand. The first blog is called NZ's South Island in a motorhome.