We are just coming to the end of a week spent here in Christchurch - the largest city on South Island. Was a bit of a shock to the system after the small towns that we have enjoyed spending time in around New Ze
aland - our favourites so far being Paihia, Coromandel & Picton. Christchurch is very much like being in a UK city - and not sure we were quite ready for that just yet! Having said that it's been great for places to eat and for stocking up on all those little necessities that you tend to run out of! It's been a lot cooler as we have headed further South, as we expected, so our jeans and jumpers have got a bit of an airing again! (Although la
st week when we were in Picton Christchurch was in the 30's for awhile - so you never can tell!) Sunday was a gorgeous day though so we took a day trip over to Akaroa, a pretty little town on the coast, where we went on a walk up in the hills to admire the magnificent views. It was ok until the last part of the walk where the handwritten map instructed us to turn rig
ht at the fence and cross the sheep paddock. Don't know when the map was written, but the sheep paddock was now a field full of cows with their calves and a few geese thrown in for good measure! The cows mooed loudly as we approached, no doubt protesting at the intrusion upon their personal space, but we gave them a wide a berth as was possible and escaped over the stile at the other end of the field! The waterfront at Akaroa was lovely, wi
th lots of little cafes and restaurants and the littel building that you can see at the end of the jetty was apparently the very first custom hous
e in New Zealand! Christchurch is also the place to be for embarking on what is reported to be one of the most scenic train journeys in the world - the TranzAlpine from Christchurch over to Greymouth on the west coast. Basically you spend the whole day on the train if you do it in a day but it was well worth it for the scenery! It was a 4 1/2 hou
r trip each way with an hour to spend in Greymouth before getting the train back again! The train was really comfy too with reclining seats, huge windows and an open air viewing carriage. That was where I managed to get the photo of the train as it r
ounded a corner - but it took some effort I can tell you! The viewing carriage was only small and was filled with tons of people wielding huge cameras with foot long lenses hanging off the end of them! For the time I was in there I felt like I was a fully fledged, card carrying member of the paparazzi, as I struggled to poke my tiny point-and-shoot digital camera under someone's elbow to get the shot! Arthur's Pass was the highest poin
t in the Southern Alps where we had a brief pitstop to stretch our legs before carrying on to Greymouth. Yesterday we had a bit of a wander around Christchurch itself. You can see CK posing down by the River Avon! New Regent Street, with the coloured buil
dings is a particular favourite of mine! I took the photo as CK was browsing in the gift shop window. If you look closely on the top floor of the building (click to enlarge the pic!) you can see some of the bears making a bid for freedom! Then, almost on cue, one of the attractive city tram
s came by to complete the picture! We finished the day, being a little chilly(!) with a hot chocolate, sitting outside a bar with our own personal
fire to keep us warm! What a good idea! Reckon we could do with something like that in the UK don't you think?!
(That's We're "All Done" in Dunedin for those of us, like myself, who are not of Scottish descent and not totally fluent in the lingo!) Anyway, we left Christchurch last Friday in heavy rain which lasted all the way down to Dunedin - and in fact didn't stop for 4 days! CK was particularly excited about visiting Dunedin as it has a strong Scottish heritage! This was evident from the first day when we sloshed through the rain on George S
t, only to stumble upon the final moments of a pipe band competition! In the space of about half an hour I think we saw more kilts and bagpipes than either of us had ever seen in Scotland itself! Hope the guys were wearing something UNDER their kilts though (no, we didn't check!) as it was quite a chilly day! Needing to take shelter from the rain on Monday (yes, I know - any excuse!) we decided to visit the Cadbury Chocolate Factory here in Dunedin. They have lots of different varieties of Cadbury's chocolate that we don't have in the UK so we felt it was our
duty as British citizens to sample them (well - somebody has to do it!) We did in fact get a goodie bag on the factory tour that was filled up at various points along the way! As you can see from the photo, I discovered CK's secret stash of chocolate this week and thought you would all like to see it! No - it's actually the combinati
on of our goodie bags, the samples we got from Cadbury World and our emergency chocolate supply of course! (Well, you never know when you're going to be stranded up a mountain or wherever and might need it eh?! Best to be prepared!) Snatching the brief window of opportunity 
when it wasn't raining, I took a photo of a couple of Dunedin's famous landmarks for you to see! Firstly the fabulous Railway Station building (where incidentally we filled in a survey on Maori culture for Tim, a friendly university student, and received the large bar of Dairy Milk chocolate that you can see in the earlier photo! Thanks Tim - all donations gratefully received!) Secondly, you may have noticed CK standing next to her pal 'Rabbie' - Scottish poet Robert Burns who is the adopted bard of the city of Dunedin! Yesterday, despite the weather, we took a trip along the Otago Peninsula to the little town of Portobello.
Well, turned out to be more of a village really! You can see CK standing in the heart of the action by the general store! I think if it had been a clear day t
he journey there and the bay itself would have been a spectacular sight - but we did get to experience some genuine Scotch Mist as you can see! I loved the quirky little boat with the Nessie style figurehe
ads too! AND - we did get a mean cup of hot chocolate, accompanied by 2 marshmallows, from the little coffee shop overlooking the bay! The swirling mist was in fact very atmospheric and would make a great setting for an Ian Rankin novel! And you can't get much more Scottish than that!
