Journeys.... Let's explore the world by foot and take the highest road that has the most potholes...

Christchurch to Auckland Arrived Christchurch after a nice drive through the valley. Our B&B is on top of ‘Cashmere” which is one of the hills surrounding the city. Linda greeted us, very nice, I think Vinnie was “keen” on her – another one of his BBC English finds. We had the entire top floor to ourselves to include two baths, a sitting room and bedroom with extensive balconies. That evening we had dinner at an Italian restaurant (try, try, try again). Vinnie had (wait for it…) pizza – he really went out on a limb – and I tried Chicken parmesian. Both were adequate, nothing special be certainly edible. Next morning we popped up, had breakfast, and left for the hour and a half drive to Akaroa (78 kilometers). It was quite hilly, steep inclines, steep drops off the side of the road (mostly my side) and curvy. The valleys were beautiful, green and filled with animals. We had booked a “nature” cruise on a cat for the afternoon, so were able to meander and take our time getting there. The town is adorable, very quaint filled with little shops and restaurants. We stopped for coffee and a sweet treat then wandered around town a bit more. The cruise was lots of fun. We went out of the harbor and headed around the sound, finding Hector’s Dolphins and white flippered, blue penguins (different from just the blue penguins we saw in Kaiteriteri). It was lots of fun, the sun was out and the fellow passengers didn’t annoy. Before driving back that evening we had dinner in Akaroa . Our hostess had advised us to have fish and chips (since everything is caught fresh each day and taken to the restaurants). So…I had fish and chips and Vinnie had (wait for it…) Mexican pizza! We had decided on the way there to try another route home so we took the “tourist” route. Mistake. The drive was even steeper, and the roads had “slippage” where the pavement had just fallen down the hill. Then to add to our excitement the fog started to move in to parts of the hills, creating another scare tactic. The tourist route was a little longer, 98 kilometers. I’m pleased to say we finally made it back to the valley after a very long drive. This morning, we had breakfast with our hostess (cold cereal, fruit and toast) and said our goodbyes. We shoved everything from the car into our luggage, trying not to worry too much about the weight limit we had to face at the airport. We drove around the outskirts of Christchurch to check out the historic harbors and bays that were first settled. Nothing is very old here so we were pleased to drive through Lyttleton, which is currently holding all the cruise ships and containers. It had lots of very nice old homes…very cool. Stopped and had lunch in Governors Bay, V- fish & chips , A – greek salad. We turned in the rental car, no problems as they did not have any paperwork on it so couldn’t check for dinks and scratches (never-mind the front fender that was hanging by a thread. We were dropped at the airport and here we sit waiting for our flight to Auckland. Our next challenge will be to contact our agent, in Auckland, and get our paperwork that is hopefully waiting for us to get us through the cruise check-in. TTYL Gator