Day 11 to Day 14 - Christchurch & Kaikoura

Continue from previous blog dated 30 July 07.



Day 11


With cold weather on Day 10, we wake up slightly late and leave the hostel at around 10am. Today we are going to drive back to Ashburton before heading for Kaikoura on Day 12.


Ashburton is a major service centre for the local farming district, Ashburton sits between the Rakaia and Rangitata Rivers. When European settlers first arrived here, the area was a dry, tussock-covered expanse with hardly any trees.


On the driving route, we passed by a few small towns such as Geraldine and there were many beautiful scenary en route so we stopped our car to take photos. By the time we reached Ashburton, it is around 5plus. We started to look for our accommodations and we couldnt find one as they are either fully booked or very expensive. In the end, we decided to drive for another 2 hours to Christchurch instead as there are vacancies available in Holiday Park.


We finally reach Christchurch at around 8pm but we couldnt find the holiday park and we keep going around the city of Christchurch. Finally we found it after 30 mins of drive. Faint.

We get a cabin with kitchen facilities and we cooked for our dinner. We are famished. We get to bed after shower which was a shared camp facilities.



Day 12


We start our drive at 8am to Kaikoura. Kaikoura is 3 hrs drive from Christchurch. Kaikoura is a base for wildlife experiences of all kinds – it’s also a great place to eat crayfish (in the Maori language kai means food, koura means crayfish). The environment is truly spectacular – the village is caught between the rugged Seaward Kaikoura Range and the Pacific Ocean.


The purpose of going to Kaikoura is to watch Sperm whale which are largely found in Kaikoura. Upon reaching Kaikoura, we make our booking with I-site for our whale watching at 12.45pm. This whale watching is not cheap. NZ$130/Adult. Although it is expensive but since we had drive for 3 hours, cant possible to have a waste trip.


As there was 45 minutes before the activity, we decided to have light lunch. Since Kaikoura is near to the sea, taking seafood definitely is the right choice. Wanted to try on the crayfish which Kaikoura is famous for but thought that we might not have enough time to eat in a restaurant so we chose a cafe instead. I took Fish and Chips which is cheap and good while my husband took Hotdog as he dont really fancy seafood.


At around 12.35pm, we drive to the location for the whale watching event. It is just 3 minutes drive. At around 1.15pm, we were told to board a coach so they can drive us to the Bay to take the cruise (Many people signed up this event). The sea was rough and many people vomitted on the way to the high sea. I vomitted only on the way back to the shore. Hai..All my fish and chips gone.


We saw total of 4 Sperm whales which considered a good trip as normally, only 3 whales can be seen. The whale is 18m long and they were so hugh. On our way back to the shore, we saw a school of Dusky Dolphins which is even a rare opportunity as told by the guide. There were a total of 1000plus dusky dolphins and they are flipping and diving happily in the sea.


As the cruise is a 3 hours trip, by the time we reached the shore, it is almost 4.30pm. It was a great trip as we got to see so many wild mammals.



Day 13


We drive back to Christchurch. Today is the last day for our trip in South Island of New Zealand.
Since it was a Saturday, we went to the weekend market at the Arts Centre. There were shops selling all sort of food and I tried on the Thai vegetable nuggets and my husband tried on German sausages. It was nice taste for the sausage.

We also do some last minute shopping at the market and my husband bought 3 Paua Shells which he had been looking for it and he finally got it cheap and nice at a weekend market. We do found some shops in Kaikoura selling the Paua shells but they were all expensive.

At night, we drive to a Liqour shop to buy red wine for his eldest brother. During payment, the cashier ask me for my license to verify my age. The rule is that if they feel any customer is under age 25, they have the right to check the identification. OMG!! I was underage in the eyes of New Zealanders. Nevertheless, i showed them my driving license for verification. They have the "Puzzled" look

Day 14

Today, we need to depart Christchurch back to Singapore. On our way to return our car, we dropped by at Subway to get a foot long of sandwich. The rental company drive us to the Airport for our departure.

During check in, we were told that one of our hand luggage exceeded the permitted size and weight. So we removed some of the items and acts a separate item to be carried up to the flight. Instead of one bag, it become three bags which is OK to hand carry on board.

What the difference of carrying one bag or three bags? To me it is of no difference as you carry the same amount of weight on board. As the flight for delayed due to the fact that the flight arrived Christchurch late.

At around 11.45am, we boarded our flight back to Singapore. As the flight is not full, we constantly have food served. This was the first time i was served with different food and snacks such as Tim Tam and Apples.

Really misses my trip to New Zealand. Will definitely return to New Zealand.