New Zealand Day 3

Enchiladas, nachos, and Pepsi! It was a perfect dinner for us while we waited for the ferry to the South Island. We had driven the whole North Island in just a couple days in what we realized afterward was a mad dash to get as far south as possible before having to turn back. After dinner, we hopped back into the van and drove to the ferry terminal.

This is the cheapest way to transport goods between the two main New Zealand isles. It took about three hours to get across. We were both amazed about the size of the ship, as well as the capacity of it. While we waited in line to drive up the ramp, we watched a dozen tractor-trailers drive into the boat and TURN AROUND INSIDE so they could drive straight out on the other island.

At 11:00 we drove off the ship and quickly started looking for a place to sleep. After about an hour, I gave up and pulled off the road onto a side road. We woke up the next morning to a beautiful sunrise while sheep grazed in the vineyard. After breakfast we got back on the road. The weather was getting noticeably colder, so when we saw George hitch hiking 60 km from the nearest town we had to pick him up. He had been working in Wellington on some fishing boats, but the fishing season had just ended so he was on his way down to Dunedin (20 driving hours away) at the bottom of the south island to find some different work. He was a great guy. Fun to talk to, and he gave us some info on New Zealand.

(George didn't mind letting us stop to gawk at the seals on the beach.)

A few hours later we arrived in Christchurch. Christchurch is a beautiful seaside town on the east side of the South Island. Christchurch was a planned colonial British settlement in New Zealand. The plan was to build a community around a cathedral which would be modeled on Christ Church in Oxford. The cathedral still stands in the heart of the tourism district. Christchurch also has a history of involvement in the exploration of the Antarctic Continent. Several countries including the U.S. use the airport here to get to the different bases on the frozen continent.

After sightseeing, we drove up the coast a few minutes looking for a nice seaside place to sleep. What we ended up finding was a parking lot beside a rugby field. It was pretty quiet, but not so beautiful. The locals were trusting (or apathetic) enough to leave the doors to the locker room unlocked so we were able to sneak in and take showers and do some basic grooming with HOT water the next morning. It felt so good!

(Our view the next morning, after a five minute walk through a construction zone.)