First stop in New Zealand was Christchurch which we didn’t
spend much time in. By all accounts the city is pretty boring and still
recovering from the earthquake of last year. (A four pointer aftershock hit a few days
after we left; Andy quite wanted to exerience an earthquake too but plenty of
chance for that in California I guess....). Anyhow, there was one highlight to our stay in
Christchurch and that was the Jailhouse hostel. Converted a couple of years back; until ’99 it
was a fully fledged jail and looked the spitting image of what you’d expect
(think Shawshank or Porridge). Something
of an experience staying in our own cell but something I’d definately recommend
as long it’s by choice!
As Christcurch had nothing to offer we headed for the Banks
Peninsular, one hour east. It’s a huge
volcanic crater right on the edge of the south island with a nice mix of
mountains and bays. We stopped off at
the local town of Akaroa which turned out to be French of all things. The French had a go at colonising New Zealand
before we kicked them out; unlucky monsieurs! After much driving around and admiring of
scenery we decided this was far too lazy so decided to walk up one of the
peaks. Great views again; something that
you tend to take for granted after being here for a while.
