I just realized, I recently had the BEST weekend of all time but completely neglected to mention it in my blog! (now that I'm updating it again).
Well, let me fill you in on the wonderful choclaty cream filled goodness that was an awesome long weekend!
So my sweetness and I set off on a Friday morning, off to the airport to catch an early flight down to Christchurch. And things started off on a light note from the word go. We were seated down the very back of the plane with a short stout maori character and some guys from a local rugby club.
We'd only been in the air a couple of minutes when one of the rugby guys breaks out his laptop and starts playing Siones Wedding. I then called over to him "Bolo!" and got a laugh. Great movie.
So we arrive into Christchurch airport to an absolutely beautiful sunny day, around 20 degrees, blue skies and a long weekend ahead of us.
After a small hiccup with navigating the airport car park we were off in the rental and cruising through Christchurch's suburbs. We found the
apartment hotel and were pleasantly surprised at the room. Although compact, it was very clean and cheerful (MUCH better than the DIVE I stayed in last time I was in Chch).
We started off with some retail therapy, there were some great sales on and I decided to spend up and enjoy myself. I found a couple of cool items and then actually managed to talk my girl into trying on some new pants, and lo and behold she came away with 2 pairs! Great therapy for all concerned.
After having done our shopping we decided to stop for a bit of lunch at Liquidity. We had the best chicken and bacon club sandwiches there which was just the start of the good food that we were to enjoy for almost the entire long weekend.
It was then a bit of a tikki tour expedition to find Mc Duffs mini golf! After eventually finding the course and having played it, we came away somewhat disappointed. Their course while although quite inventive with some interesting holes, had a major flaw. The entire setup had lumpy greens meaning the whole game wasn't so much about using skill to get the balls in the holes but rather pure dumb luck as they hit the right lump and having your ball be led on an indirect course into the hole. Definitely wouldn't recommend that one to anyone (unless you like getting free colored golf balls as there were plenty of these that had found their way from the driving range to the mini golf course).
Next we decided to venture out and ride the gondola. The ride up was very scenic and nice but the destination was rather lacking in, well 'anything' unless your idea of entertainment was finding the tackiest kiwiana at the store or stopping for something to eat at what could have been the tea rooms at Terau.
The views were great though and I snapped up some awesome panoramas and a few videos from the top (One of these photos is actually to be turned into a painting).
We then headed back to the apartment to 'freshen up' and it was off to the special dinner I had organized. We headed to the tram atrium building and boarded the
tram restaurant for an evening of fine dining and views of the city as it meandered past our dining table. to be fair I was expecting an overpriced rather average affair being a rather touristy thing to do but we both surprised to find that the food was delicious and the whole experience to be something rather special. This I WOULD recommend (bookings are essential).
After the wonderful dinner we then trawled the town center looking for a pool table. Now there's obviously VERY little to do in Chch for the regulars so it would seem that the pool halls do a brisk trade and all the tables were in heavy demand. We ended up at a local bar with a table all to ourselves. It was actually the eve of their last evening of business as they were closing down that weekend. The bartender was rather nice and gave us free non alcoholic drinks. The balls on the table were rather weighted though and it took some good hard hits just to get the damn things rolling. Regardless, it finished the evening off nicely.
The next day we wandered around a little, looked at a few stores and generally just had a leisurely stroll. We both started getting a little grumpy from not having any breakfast OR any caffeinated beverages so we sorted that quick smart in a nice little French cafe with a cooked breakfast which was surprisingly good fare.
We then did a tour on the tram by day for the 'narrated' version detailing the sights, scenes and history of the city. We hopped off the tram after a circuit and had a look at the open air markets. Got a little lost in the building, eventually found the fudge cottage but it was so busy that we just rushed through making a note to revisit before we left.
After the markets we went across and visited the Art Gallery. What a disappointment that was. There wasn't really much on display and the art that there was, was rather disturbing visions from a crazed woman. There was one that stood out in particular. It was a dress suspended from the roof. To look at it, you saw a beautifully sculptured pink dress. That was until you saw the other side and saw the big brown stain on the side and looked at the title which was something along the lines of "Shit stain on dress". Lovely.
Time for a tikki tour again and off to Brighton pier. It's a great place to visit and after a cool panoramic shot from the pier, we watched the people down on the beach fighting against the sand and the surf. The wind was whipping up a river of sand that tried to dislodge the pedestrians and dogs alike from their earthly perch.
We then headed back to the apartment and a nearby clothing shop that we had seen the first day and HAD to go back for another look.
Misery Boutique is so cool. They have lots of wicked clothing as well as various weird and wonderful 'toys'. we both went for it and spent up large. It's a great store and what's even better is they've got an online store too. Oh the mind boggles...
It was now early evening by this point so we went to the local Pak N Save and stocked up on goodies to see us through for the rest of the journey (including the ferry ride home). we got some chocolate chip pancakes which were awesome. Haven't seen them anywhere round town though, will keep looking.
We had seen and been informed by the tram conductor, of a restaurant called Blue Note which was to have live Jazz that night so we rang and made a reservation. again Chch treated us to some fine cuisine and awesome live jazz. They were a couple of old guys but man could they play. Between them they must have switched between about 5 different instruments. It was a wonderful evening. we even had some scallops which were to die for.
The next day we headed off to the antarctic center to finish off our stay in Christchurch. The main attraction was the storm room where they simulate a storm in -8c temperatures. That was fun but the rest of it needs some serious updating as it looks like it's straight from the 80's. Wouldn't you know it, the penguin exhibit opened up the DAY AFTER we left. Sucky.
From there it was a short stop at the Fudge Cottage to pick up some fudge and then we were off again on a ride up the coast to our next destination, Hanmer.
The drive was leisurely and we stopped pretty much where ever we felt like it, a cafe, a winery (just to look). We even tried to communicate with some friendly looking cows but seeing as I was doing that from the window of a speeding car we didn't get much of a reply...
We finally crested the valley that is the Hanmer Springs basin and it was spectacular. The scenery in that area is amazing. We drove in, admiring the hills in the background and meandered through Hanmer looking for our hotel. We found it through the ever watchful eye of Miss C.
The place we had booked was a 5 star hotel and I'd say it lived up to that. The guy who owns the place was very friendly helpful, even told us the places to avoid etc. The room was excellent, big bed, big spa bath, awesome view with cooing doves just across from the window, romantic?
We headed out having seen a cool looking mini golf place on the way into town. After having a rather crappy experience with the mini golf in Chch, we were still looking to get our fix. The course turned out to be really good, complete with water hazards.
We and the couple playing ahead of us had a great time and it was the perfect way to spend a balmy sunny afternoon in Hanmer. After that we headed back to the hotel to relax a little and then it was off to the hot springs!
The hot springs were great, we tried a couple of the pools and stayed for over an hour, it was nice. There were a couple of girls who were playing around and splashing a bit. The, hmm, 'larger' one of the two said to the other "you wanna play dolphins?" and Miss C and I looked at each other and knew we were both thinking the exact same thing "more like wanna play whales?". Mean I know but they were being a bit obnoxious so there.
We then went off to a local pub for a meal (which was really nice) and a few games of pool. All in all, another awesome day.
Well the weekend had come and gone and it was now Monday. We had organized a bit of a treat, a quad bike adventure, so we headed off eager with anticipation.
The guy that was to be our 'guide' was a down to earth country type, great guy and a bit of a laugh. We headed out and I let Miss C take the lead so we could go at her pace. To begin with she was holding on for grim death and after the first half she had a nasty blister on her thumb. After a little first aid action we were off again and by this time she had gotten much more used to the bike and was clearly enjoying herself a lot more. We drove on a bit, stopped so I could have a bit of a hoon, and then we were off on the home stretch. We had so much fun we even bought the photos on a CD.
It was then a drive up the coast to our drop off point of Picton where we would catch the last ferry of the evening home.
We stopped at Kaikoura for lunch and it was pretty much clear sailing from there on. The ferry ride seemed, as so aptly put by Miss C, bittersweet as it marked the end of the long weekend away and seemed to pass all too soon.
It was an amazing weekend, I would venture to say the best weekend I've ever had. Better than any other weekend, including my skydiving weekend in Picton. It was awesome, definitely one to remember.
I have lots of great pictures from that weekend too, I'll post them up a little later for your viewing pleasure :D
Till next time, same bat time, same bat channel
