After getting up at the un-godly hour of 5am, and having breakfast, Edmund kindly dropped us off at the Christchurch train station. We had managed to re-pack our belongings back into two cases and two rucksacks, after being able to spread out our stuff in the hire car boot. Needless to say, Linda ended up with a lot of our cast offs of food and toiletries which just wouldn’t fit.
We were a little worried that we would exceed the weight limits published in the leaflet, let alone the limit of “one small handbag”. We needn’t have worried, the train driver avoided a hernia loading our case, and our over packed rucksacks passed as a small handbag somehow!
The journey was fairly uneventful and unfortunately, due to the lousy weather (the remnants of Tropical Cyclone Innis), we were unable to see most of the surrounding scenic sights! The mist and rain obliterated our view.
However, we did meet a lovely friendly couple (Aussie and Kiwi), who were good company throughout the journey.
Welcome to our blog....
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Catching up with Rellies
Thursday 19th February 2009
We received a very warm welcome from cousin Linda and Edmund at their lovely home on the outskirts of Christchurch.
We had a nice chat and a lovely lunch with cherry tomatoes from the garden(!), and then Linda & Edmund took us on a tour of the surrounding area.
Our exclusive tour(!!), took us to Port Hills - the Port Hills separate Christchurch from Lyttleton Harbour, and Edmund told us that they were formed as the result of the eruption of the now extinct Lyttleton volcano.
Because of their proximity to the city the hills are popular with walkers, runners, rock climbers and mountain bikers. Linda & Edmund told us that they regularly walk with the local ramblers association here in the Port Hills.
Despite the cloudy skies, the winding route up the Port Hills provided striking views of Lyttleton
Harbour, the Canterbury Plains and on clearer days we are told you can see the Southern Alps. We had good views across to Diamond Harbour on the far side of the bay, where there is a ferry from Lyttleton.
The summit of the Port Hills can also be accessed via the Christchurch Gondola which we could see from our stopping point on the side of the road - Linda and Edmund told us that there are wedding celebrations held there regularly and on one occasion, the cable car was forced to stop running due to high winds and the wedding party were stranded at the summit overnight!!
Lyttleton was the landing place of the Canterbury Pilgrims, brought
out by the Canterbury Association to populate the new province in 1850. From our vantage point Edmund pointed out the track that the pilgrims would have used to tramp up the hill from the harbour , they would have been carrying all their belongings including grand pianos(!), and wearing frocks and skirts - no easy task!!
In 1867 a rail tunnel was drilled through the volcanic rock of the Port Hills to provide a link between Lyttleton and Christchurch, and a road tunnel was completed in 1964.
We then drove on very shear mountain roads on to Sumner, passing a lovely bay called Okains Bay which is owned soley by Maori. They have a meeting house there. Sumner was a little town with a promanade along the front, with a nice beach and a big rock which had been carved out by the sea, leaving a cave like passageway. There were some big houses lining the hills here, some perched quite precariously.
We had a lovely day being shown around on a personal tour and were also able to catch up on family news past and present. We looked at some old photos that Linda had inherited from her Mum, and we tried to identify all the family members. We had a delicious dinner at Linda and Edmunds, and we hooked up with Della’s parents on the web cam so they could all catch up.
We were so glad that we were able to call in on Linda and Edmund and re-establish a friendship, the last time they had seen Della was when she was 3yrs old! Now that the connection has been re-established we will be able to keep in touch. A big thanks to Linda and Edmund for making us so welcome.
We received a very warm welcome from cousin Linda and Edmund at their lovely home on the outskirts of Christchurch.
We had a nice chat and a lovely lunch with cherry tomatoes from the garden(!), and then Linda & Edmund took us on a tour of the surrounding area.
Our exclusive tour(!!), took us to Port Hills - the Port Hills separate Christchurch from Lyttleton Harbour, and Edmund told us that they were formed as the result of the eruption of the now extinct Lyttleton volcano.
Because of their proximity to the city the hills are popular with walkers, runners, rock climbers and mountain bikers. Linda & Edmund told us that they regularly walk with the local ramblers association here in the Port Hills.
Despite the cloudy skies, the winding route up the Port Hills provided striking views of Lyttleton
Harbour, the Canterbury Plains and on clearer days we are told you can see the Southern Alps. We had good views across to Diamond Harbour on the far side of the bay, where there is a ferry from Lyttleton.The summit of the Port Hills can also be accessed via the Christchurch Gondola which we could see from our stopping point on the side of the road - Linda and Edmund told us that there are wedding celebrations held there regularly and on one occasion, the cable car was forced to stop running due to high winds and the wedding party were stranded at the summit overnight!!
Lyttleton was the landing place of the Canterbury Pilgrims, brought
out by the Canterbury Association to populate the new province in 1850. From our vantage point Edmund pointed out the track that the pilgrims would have used to tramp up the hill from the harbour , they would have been carrying all their belongings including grand pianos(!), and wearing frocks and skirts - no easy task!!In 1867 a rail tunnel was drilled through the volcanic rock of the Port Hills to provide a link between Lyttleton and Christchurch, and a road tunnel was completed in 1964.
We then drove on very shear mountain roads on to Sumner, passing a lovely bay called Okains Bay which is owned soley by Maori. They have a meeting house there. Sumner was a little town with a promanade along the front, with a nice beach and a big rock which had been carved out by the sea, leaving a cave like passageway. There were some big houses lining the hills here, some perched quite precariously.
We had a lovely day being shown around on a personal tour and were also able to catch up on family news past and present. We looked at some old photos that Linda had inherited from her Mum, and we tried to identify all the family members. We had a delicious dinner at Linda and Edmunds, and we hooked up with Della’s parents on the web cam so they could all catch up.
We were so glad that we were able to call in on Linda and Edmund and re-establish a friendship, the last time they had seen Della was when she was 3yrs old! Now that the connection has been re-established we will be able to keep in touch. A big thanks to Linda and Edmund for making us so welcome.
Arthurs Pass day 2
We were very grateful to those hardworking men making a tunnel, as it allowed the train, which ran next to our motel, to run regularly ALL night!!
It was not a big problem to Della as she would sleep through the train running through the room, but Tracy had a less than restful night.
We decamped about 9am and, with another beautiful day we proceeded down from the pass towards Christchurch. Once again, we were blown away by the scenery.
We followed the Taramakau river winding down to Bealey with its rustic cluster of holiday homes at the fringe of Arthur’s pass national park
. The Cloud was rising from the lakes and you could actually see the water being evaporated up into the cloud, before it blew down stream, amazing.
We passed a number of lakes which, if the cloud had not been there, they would have produced beautiful mountain reflections, but we were not to see them today. The low cloud provided an all together different image.
We passed a number of ski fields. There are six fields along the state highway, just small clubs where visitors are welcome.
The topography in these parts is amazing,
you can see the land buckling and bowing under the pressure it was once put under. There was a large limestone rock formation called Castle Hill,
and these are eerily impressive, popular with rock climbers. The area has significance to Maori as a seasonal food-gathering spot and as part of the route used by Maori to reach the West Coast. We climbed up to some of these rocks, they were huge.
There was a sheep station in the valley by these rocks, we saw the farmers were moving their sheep on horseback, and using sheep dogs. The farmstead
was gorgeous and the location stunning. We were going in to ask them if they wanted to adopt a couple of hard working Poms, but we resisted.
We came over Porters Pass (949m) giving us our last view of the valley before we came down onto the plains. The cloud was sitting on the plain giving a lovely effect on the landscape.
We came down onto the plains and into the rain and cloud. Our next destination was to Halswell, a town on the outskirts of Christchurch. We were visiting Della’s Dad’s 2nd Cousin Linda and her husband Edmund. They are from Bristol, our home town, and moved out to New Zealand 3 years ago, to be with their son and his family.
It was not a big problem to Della as she would sleep through the train running through the room, but Tracy had a less than restful night.
We decamped about 9am and, with another beautiful day we proceeded down from the pass towards Christchurch. Once again, we were blown away by the scenery.
We followed the Taramakau river winding down to Bealey with its rustic cluster of holiday homes at the fringe of Arthur’s pass national park
. The Cloud was rising from the lakes and you could actually see the water being evaporated up into the cloud, before it blew down stream, amazing.
We passed a number of lakes which, if the cloud had not been there, they would have produced beautiful mountain reflections, but we were not to see them today. The low cloud provided an all together different image.
We passed a number of ski fields. There are six fields along the state highway, just small clubs where visitors are welcome.
The topography in these parts is amazing,
you can see the land buckling and bowing under the pressure it was once put under. There was a large limestone rock formation called Castle Hill,
and these are eerily impressive, popular with rock climbers. The area has significance to Maori as a seasonal food-gathering spot and as part of the route used by Maori to reach the West Coast. We climbed up to some of these rocks, they were huge.
There was a sheep station in the valley by these rocks, we saw the farmers were moving their sheep on horseback, and using sheep dogs. The farmstead
was gorgeous and the location stunning. We were going in to ask them if they wanted to adopt a couple of hard working Poms, but we resisted.We came over Porters Pass (949m) giving us our last view of the valley before we came down onto the plains. The cloud was sitting on the plain giving a lovely effect on the landscape.
We came down onto the plains and into the rain and cloud. Our next destination was to Halswell, a town on the outskirts of Christchurch. We were visiting Della’s Dad’s 2nd Cousin Linda and her husband Edmund. They are from Bristol, our home town, and moved out to New Zealand 3 years ago, to be with their son and his family.
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