Tag Archives: new zealand

Christchurch: Rebuilding Beauty

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We left Oamaru early in the morning and drove 3hrs and 15 minutes to Christchurch. This is a beautiful town and it is a shame that we did not have more time to spend here.

We headed straight for the punting down the Avon river and to my dismay they were completely sold out for the day (it was a Saturday).  So, we decided to take the tram around Christchurch to see the city.  The tram sells all day passes so you can hop on and off as you please.

Funny little trams that give commentary along the way. Not sure if the ad is a relic and up for fun or if they really do need conductors 🙂

Quake City

The first stop we make is to Quake City where they go over the mass destruction Christchurch incurred during the two earthquakes in 2010 and 2011.  In September 2010 they had  a 7.1 quake and just a few months later in February 2011 they had a 6.3 quake.  Over 85% of Christchurch was destroyed including infrastructure, businesses, homes, vehicles, transportation, and loss of life.

Twelve years later they are still rebuilding some of their most historic and iconic buildings, churches, and structures.  The museum, Quake City showed before and after photos and shared a great amount of information about how they are changing their buildings to sustain future earthquakes.

We continued to walk around Christchurch and found several monuments, parks, statues, art pieces and more.

We only had one short afternoon to explore Christchurch so this will be a place we come back to next time.

  • Kilometers traveled: 271
  • Hotel: Ibis Hotel’
  • Time traveled: 3.15hr
  • Kilometers walked: 7.6km

Events from this blog post occurred in early March,  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  In our last blog post we meet the beautiful blue penguins, fur seals, and the Steampunk HQ.

Blue Penguins, Fur Seals & Steampunk HQ

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New Zealand has 3 types of penguins and I had my heart set on meeting the beautiful blue penguins.  These penguins are the smallest penguins in the world and they can primarily be found in Otago Peninsula and Oamaru.  So, we leave Dunedin and head to Otago Peninsula to try to see them.

We learned that the best time to see them is before 0900 when they leave to go fishing or between 1900-2100 when they return from fishing.  So, we left early to try to catch them in the morning.  We arrived to the facility around 0800 and to our surprise the gates to the viewing platform were locked.  Well shoot!  We did manage to get some beautiful sunrise photos.

And we spotted some fur seals pretty far away.  The blue arrow is pointing to their spot which you can see in the lower right photo (zoomed in).

The penguins should have been on this beach….but we could not see them from such a far distance.  The lower right photo shows the blue penguin that we were searching for on the beach.

On the way to Otago Peninsula or Pilot’s Beach we found a penguin crossing sign.

Moeraki Boulders

We left Otago Peninsula and headed toward the Moeraki Boulders.  These are large spherical stones resting on the beach that have been exposed through the shoreline erosion.  There are other boulders remaining in the mudstone that will, eventually, fall to the beach to join the others.

These boulders are magnificent in their color, shape, and size.  Each one is unique and beautiful.  Several boulders weigh tons and the largest ones are over 2 meters wide!

We found one in the mudstone just itching to come out so we tried to put it back in.

We get back on the road and make our way to Oamaru.  This town is most famous for its blue penguin colony and its limestone architecture.   But, we also find a hidden gem inside the Steampunk HQ.

Steampunk HQ

I am not really sure how to describe this incredibly unique and novel museum called Steampunk HQ.  Perhaps you have heard of Steampunk before, but this is all new to me.  Steampunk is Industrial revolution meets Victorian era collection.  It is a place for all things quirky, weird, unusual, and just plain strange.  You are encouraged to touch everything, sit in cars, pull strings, push buttons and yank cords.

Matt had a grand time playing this old organ that shot out the strangest noises and melodies.

We each goofed around with lots of bits and pieces.

They had this super cool room that lit up all around you.

Even the outer parts of the building had strange things attached to them…check out the fisherman on the roof.

Limestone Architecture

Oamaru is known for its legacy limestone buildings which are relics of embarrassing wealth long since gone.

And unusual sculptures

Blue Penguins

The blue penguins took over an abandoned quarry in 1970. In 1992 the local community decided to build a sanctuary around their habitat.  Currently there are 249 breeding pairs that reside in this area.

These little guys swim 75km each day at an average speed of 4-6km per hour.  They will dive up 70 meters around 1500 times per day!  They can hold their breath for about 2 minutes. 

These are pictures of pictures as we were not allowed to get that close or to photograph the penguins.

The sanctuary built little houses for the breeding pairs so that they have somewhere warm to go once they return from fishing.  Each breeding pair returns to their particular home.  A few times we could see a juvenile or a molting adult inside, but the photos just don’t come out well.

The have a viewing room where they set up little portals to spy inside the little homes.  They keep a red light on so as not to startle the penguins, but at least we could see them up close and personal.

Penguins have waterproof feathers that keep them warm while they are swimming.  But once a year, they will molt and shed the old feathers and grow new ones.  During this 18 day period they stay inside their home.  These are also a rare breed of penguins in that they can hatch eggs twice in a season.  The parents will incubate the eggs for 35 days, then raise them for 8 weeks and then set them to the sea.  The juveniles will stay at sea for a full year before returning home.  Unfortunately, only about 35% will return.

The little blue penguin is just below Matt’s knee.

As we round the sanctuary we come across a fur seal colony.

These two were very playful.

Scott’s Brewery

We stop off at Scott’s Brewery (Wayne’s last name is “Scott” so he was particularly excited to stop here).  Read the back of the shirt as it is super funny.

Saw these in a gift shop by the Penguin Sanctuary at Otago Peninsula….just made me laugh.

We were not able to get really good photos of these beautiful little penguins, but I sure did love seeing them.

  • Kilometers traveled:  179km
  • Hotel: Brydone Hotel
  • Time Traveled: 3 hours
  • Kilometers walked: 7.7km

Events from this blog occurred in early March.  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind live events.   We visit the large bustling town of Dunedin in our last blog.

Waitomo Glowworms

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Waitomo is famous for its bountiful caves which are covered in beautiful glowworms.  I say “beautiful” loosely because the actual worm is not so hot looking, but its brilliantly bright tail is a spectacular thing to see when emersed inside a pitch black cave.

We arrive into Waitomo after a 2.5 hour drive from Auckland.  The journey was uneventful and kept us on a beautiful, proper 4 lane highway (that even had a shoulder)  for most of the trip.  We did get a lot of fog, but once it cleared it was stunning, rolling, green hills and farm lands.

Waitomo means “water” “cave” (wai=water) and (tomo=cave).  There are well over 300 caves that they know of – which means there are plenty more to be discovered.

Arriving in Waitomo

We make our first stop in Ortohanga, the neighboring town to Waitomo, to have lunch at the Thirsty Weta. We enjoyed some cold beer and pretty tasty food.  Then we headed to the Waitomo Caves Museum and Discovery Center.  Super informative, interactive, and informational museum where we learned all about the glowworm.

Fun Facts:

  • A glowworm is not actually a worm
  • It lives as a maggot or larvae for the first 6-9 months, then builds a cocoon where it then turns into a fly with no mouth!  
  • The fly only lives for 3 days and their primary goal is to mate.
  • The larvae, which is about as long as a match stick, will build a small hammock that can slide front to back.
  • They drop between 30-40 sticky, silk threads that are used to catch their prey.
  • Their tails light up attracting moths, mosquitos, and other insects which then get stuck in their silk threads.
  • Females lay about 200-300 eggs in 20-30 clusters (all within the 3 days she has to live as a fly, find a mate, mate, lay, and distribute the eggs).
  • The first larvae to hatch will eat its siblings to get strength to build its hammock and drop its threads (charming).
  • The glowworms tail will brighten and dim in 24hr cycles with the other glowworms in its cluster (they are in sync) and will provide an endless luminescence. 

The museum also had bones from a really large and rare bird, called the moa.

Waitomo Caves

Waitomo is famous for its caves which is their primary tourist attraction.  Unfortunately, they do not allow any photography inside the cave.  

We start our tour out by descending 13 meters into the cave.  We are surrounded by stunning stalactites and stalagmites that are thousands and thousands of years old.  They have a strict no touch policy so we keep our hands to ourselves.  Tons of curtains, candles, and mounds hanging from the ceiling and slowly reaching for its partner on the ground.

After a 20-25 minute walk along these beautiful structures, we quietly board a small boat in the dark.  This is the part we’ve all been waiting for – the glowworms.  We silently glide in the water as the guide uses a pull rope to maneuver the boat.  It is breathtaking to see these bright blue lights dotted all over the ceiling and cavern walls.  The top left photo was taken in slow-mo by someone else, but it gives you an idea of what it looked like.

They did have a fun green screen for photos –  we got suckered into the purchase since we couldn’t take any photos on the tour.

And us in the caves…Matt and Wayne with a lion, oh wait, that is me with crazy hair!

Ruakuri Bushwalk

After our leisurely stroll through the museum we decide to follow one of the trails that leads to another trail called Ruakuri Bushwalk.  We were not really prepared for this long walk as we did not have any water, but the path was pretty flat and well marked.

The first trail started at the Waitomo Caves, connected to Johnston Memorial trail then to Waitomo Walkway before it connected us with the Ruakuri loop.  But the long walk was worth it as the Ruakuri trail was fabulous!

We followed the river and discovered loads of caves!  The trail even took us through several caves or tunnels.

We crossed over a questionable bridge, trespassed on a few farms, and climbed over fences.

The river was at times gushing and other times tranquil.

Even if you skip the original walk that brought us to the Ruakuri Bush Walk, we highly recommend the Ruakiru Bush walk – it was absolutely fantastic.

The Woodlyn Park Lodge

We took the whimsical route when we decided to stay at the Woodlyn Park Lodge.  You have a choice of staying in a train, a freighter Bristol airplane, a hobbit cabin, or an old war ship (ML430).  

We opted to stay in the Oceanic “suite” in the stern of the ship (primarily because everything else was sold out!).  As it turned out, it was super fun with a large outdoor deck overlooking the river.

Upstairs is the living area, deck, and kitchen area.  Downstairs is the bathroom, master bed room (thru the small door) and an additional room with 3 single beds.

It certainly was fun and a novelty for us all.  Stay tuned tomorrow as we go 100 meters into the center of the earth on the Lost World tour.

  • Hotel: The Woodlyn Park Lodge
  • Kilometers:  185
  • Travel Time: 3hrs15min
  • Kilometers Walked: 9.8km on 22 Feb and 8.7km on 23 Feb

Events from this blog occurred in late February,  Our blog runs 10-12 weeks behind actual events.  Did you catch our last blog where we visit the City of Sails?