Spring is So Nearly Sprung! - Part Two

Spring is So Nearly Sprung! - Part Two

The Christchurch Chronicles Continue....

I had read somewhere that the seaside towns of New Brighton and Sumner had both suffered quite badly with liquefaction after the 2011 earthquake and while Sumner had made a great recovery, New Brighton was still a bit of a ghost town. As both of these towns are only two buses away from Papanui we waited for some fine days and went exploring. We had driven to New Brighton when we left Christchurch last time but only walked along the beach and out on the pier. As we arrived by bus this time we were able to walk past all the closed down, boarded up shops, the supermarket and pubs. The shops that are open did not look like they enjoyed much foot traffic. It is quite sad.

In comparison, Sumner is thriving. The beach, shops and eateries were busy and well patronised. As we walked around the coast we discovered that the next beach around was called Scarborough Beach - just like where James and Bec live in Perth. Of course we had to take a photo of that sign to share with them. We stopped for lunch at a place called The Beach Bar which is right on the sand. As we were shown to our table I thought some kid had left a water pistol on the table, then I noticed that all the tables had water pistols on them. Having experienced in Nelson the exuberance of the seagulls to get to any food left on a table before the serving staff could clear it we were pretty sure that these water pistols were “Seagull Repellents”. Just after we sat down the people at the table across from us got up to leave and the table erupted with seagulls fighting for the last chip - oh yes, we could see the advantage of having water pistols primed and ready to go on every table.

Our next bus trip was back into Christchurch city so we could go to Quake City, the museum dedicated to the February 2011 earthquake. The very best part of this exhibition was sitting and watching the video of some of the survivors telling their stories and what they were doing at 12:51 pm on 22 February 2011. There were school teachers, policemen trapped under the courts with dangerous criminals to deal with, lawyers trapped on the third floor of collapsed building, Mums trying to get to their children, rescue workers trying to free people trapped under rubble - the stories were just about ordinary people who suddenly were thrown in to the most horrific scenario you can imagine and how many of them became heroes. As Aucklanders, we may THINK we know what Christchurch went through but after seeing this museum I have realised we have absolutely no idea how much this city has suffered. HUGE respect!!

The nice thing about being in Christchurch without COVID is being able to catch up with family. My Great niece, Sophie, who got married here the last time we were in Christchurch is a ‘bit of a shopper’ so I contacted her to see if she would like a girly day out. Even though I had my Gold Card poised ready for a bus trip Soph picked me up and we headed to the shops. Although I didn’t get all the things on my list, it was a great morning just catching up and wandering through malls I hadn’t visited before. Although it was one week early, I did manage to shout Sophie to a birthday lunch. 

Erron also got in contact again and we arranged to meet in the city for dinner. The exciting thing about this dinner was we were going to be introduced to Erron’s new lady, Bianca. We bonded with Bianca very quickly. Not only are Erron and Bianca good together but she is super friendly and super chatty so she instantly felt like one of the family. We went to the Kaiser Brew Garden for dinner and  I managed to get a photo of Erron where he isn’t flipping the bird - at last!. As you would expect they serve steins of beer which may have been the  undoing of Erron and Dave. The next morning though, Erron still went for an 8k run around Hagley, Bianca and I enjoyed a very springish walk through the park and Dave remained in the motorhome feeling a little bit poorly.

While we were at dinner Erron suggested that we should check out the Airforce Museum in Wigram which turned out to be a very easy bus trip away involving two buses. The entry is free to New Zealanders and it is full of anecdotes and memories from real people. It took us ages to see everything, reading the stories and experiencing the interactive exhibits. The planes on display were very awesome and we would love to come back when they have added one of New Zealand’s original C-130 Hercules to their collection.

We have had a mixed bag of weather while in Christchurch and have watched the trees in the holiday park go from completely bare to well on their way to green. We have made full use of our Gold Cards on the buses and had public transport adventures most days. One of these took us to the magnificent Margaret Mahy Playground which is huge with some challenging but safe equipment and heaps of water play. Oh to be a kid again. We also found a rather charming pub called The Church Brew Pub so thought I would leave you with some photos of our day in church.

Spring is So Nearly Sprung! - Part One

 Spring is So Nearly Sprung! - Part One

Spring in Hagley Park

TUESDAY 26 AUGUST 2025 - SUNDAY 28 SEPTEMBER 2025

Our last few days in Nelson passed with more bus trips, walks along Tahuna Beach and I finally got the photo I had been wanting to get of an Air New Zealand plane passing over the Beast.

The only hiccup during that last week was when we tried to get a prescription sent to the Richmond Pharmacy in Nelson and our doctors emailed it to Richmond Rd pharmacy in Auckland - Third world problem, I know! We finally left Nelson on Tuesday 2 September 2025. On the morning we were leaving Dave noticed that our Road User Charge (RUC) was about to run out so we called in at an AA before we left and bought another 5000 kms and headed to Picton. We left in sunshine, travelled through rain and arrived in sunshine. Rather than stay in Waikawa Bay again we chose to stay in a Tasman Parks holiday park which was closer to town this time and booked in for three days. Tasman Parks is an Australian company and although they are big in Australia, they are slowly buying out the Top 10 campgrounds in New Zealand so their presence here is expanding. 

After setting up our site we took a walk into town and found a quiet little place that served Kilkenny beer - so Dave had to have one as a salute to the Tuesday night boys!

Our campground was just across the road from the Picton marina which provided a lovely route for us to take into town so we meandered our way along the coast to the port. Part of this was so we could suss out where the Bluebridge ferry leaves from - for when we cross back to the North Island..

Just up the road from our camp we noticed a sign for the Tirohanga track that led up a hill and would afford a glorious view of Picton Harbour. The track was a little ragged in places and was another good stretch for our achilles but the view from the lookout was worth it especially as the Interislander was just docking. We could even see our campground from the lookout.

We decided to stay another night in Picton as the forecast was for severe rain and wind and as we would be heading along the coast road to Kaikoura in a large motorhome that is not aerodynamically sound we decided to play it safe.

The Saturday dawned much finer and far less wind so we set off for a beautiful coastal drive to Kaikoura. Having only seen one or two seals on our way up this coastal route we were delighted to see absolutely HEAPS of seals all along the coast. There was even a large nursery pool of babies playing and practicing their swimming skills. Unfortunately in the places that there were seals there was nowhere to pull over and take photos and, of course, where there were stopping bays there were no seals so no photographic evidence, sorry. 

As we had already pre-booked our campground in Christchurch we only had two days in Kaikoura instead of the three that we had planned on so we made good use of the beautiful spring weather continuing to explore on foot.

The really neat thing about Kaikoura is you can be sitting in the Pier Hotel, right beside the sea enjoying a pint in the sun and right there in the background are snow covered hills. The weather this time around was much sunnier and it was very cool to see families at the mouth of the river whitebaiting - such a Kiwi thing to do!

With the sun shining we hit the road for Christchurch for a three week stay to do all the things we couldn’t do last time because we had COVID. We chose to stay in the Tasman Holiday Park in Papanui again as it is super central and has bus stops right outside both of its entrances.

Now that we have our Gold Cards and consider ourselves platinum level bus users we headed off on a big adventure to Lyttleton. We had to catch two buses but Mr Google is so clever he tells you which bus to catch, which stop to get off at, where to walk to catch the next one and how many stops before you reach your destination. When we got to Lyttleton Port it was super windy and before committing to taking a ferry across to Banks Peninsula we went for a quick walk around the town. As we walked we had a stern talk to ourselves and decided not to wimp out ( Yes, okay it was just me wimping out!). So we headed back to the wharf to catch the ferry which is also free to Gold Card holders. The harbour itself was quite sheltered which made the short trip to Diamond Harbour very pleasant indeed. When you get off the ferry you can do a coastal walk but we chose to walk up the steep road and head somewhere for lunch. At this stage the sun was glorious and the wind had disappeared which was perfect for consuming pizza and a pint, sitting on a leather couch in front of the bifold doors. 

One of the bus stops on our doorstep has a bus that takes us directly into the main bus depot in Christchurch city and we are making good use of the number 27 bus. So far we have used it to go and check out The Riverside Markets which are right in the centre of town and, while they do sell some fresh produce, it is actually more like a food hall on steroids with an amazing variety of countries and food styles represented. The markets are within easy walking distance of Cathedral Square, Ballantynes and the Earthquake memorial which is beside the Avon and lists the names of the 185 people who lost their lives on 22 February 2011.

With the sun still shining we hopped on the 27 bus again and headed to Hagley Park. The last time we were here it was the end of autumn and Christchurch is trying so hard to show us what she looks like in spring. Yes, there are a gazillion Daffodils out and the trees are so close to erupting in foliage and flowers. As you walk around Christchurch city you can still see the damage of that frightful day in February 2011 with parts of some buildings open to the public and other parts still being propped up and closed off. In some cases the buildings are just left completely empty. Mostly though, Christchurch has picked itself up and done a damn fine job of regenerating itself. From Hagley Park we were going to head to Quake City which is a museum about the 2011 earthquake but we got way laid by an environmental protest march - “Keep our fossils in the soil - no more coal and no more oil;” - ahh well, we can always bus in and see Quake City another day.

Dave sooooo loves it when I try to do one of these arty farty shots - LOL

Next on the ‘to do list’ was to organise a catch up with our nephew, Erron who is in the army in Christchurch and is living in Rolleston. When we met up with Erron in Tekapo he mentioned a neat walk we could do in Christchurch that would take us out to Godley Head. With the weather looking a bit ‘iffy’ we donned wet weather gear and waited for Erron to pick us up. The first part of the trip was to follow the coastal road, then we headed inland slightly and up. The last part of the trip was a narrow road with stunning views out to sea and caused me only mild anxiety! The Godley Head WWII coastal defence battery sits atop sheer 120 metre-high cliffs. Built in 1939, it is ranked in the top ten New Zealand coastal defence heritage sites.Godley Head was the scene of a military defence operation, one of 44 New Zealand coastal defence batteries established during World War 2. Godley Head’s “counter bombardment battery”, as it was titled, was primarily to protect facilities of the Port of Lyttelton from enemy warship attack and to provide a safe haven for shipping. Once the Japanese entered the war, the battery was also to assist in the defence of Brighton Beach from the Spit to the Waimakariri River mouth against potential enemy landings. During the peak year of 1942, over 400 personnel manned the battery, while total numbers to run the entire operation exceeded 1,000. Members of the NZ Army and Navy were based here, including 150 women of the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC’s). It was a 24/7 operation. All of that, and not one shot was fired in anger. Not only was it a lovely coastal walk but to be amongst that much history was pretty cool too!

As you can see the sun came out while we were at Godley head which made the afternoon even more spectacular. Erron took us back to his place where we met his lovely flatmates and then we all headed down to one of the local Rolleston pubs,The Rock, to watch the All Blacks and the Warriors. Luckily the company and the food was so good as both games of footie were shite! The buses in Christchurch run a lot later than the ones in Nelson and as Rolleston is quite a trip from Papanui and given that there was a bus stop right outside the pub we insisted that we would bus home. It was another easy trip to the city bus depot and our faithful number 27 bus was waiting for us to take us home. So easy and so free!!

And that will teach me for leaving it for a whole month without posting anything because Blogger is hiccupping badly when I try to publish our Christchurch Chronicle in one hit. Sooooo this is part one and part two is right behind it.