12th Dec - Christchurch to Waimate

Spent the morning organising my stuff and blog etc. I wanted to see what I still had in NZ verses when I started in Aus. I took photos of all of my stuff and videoed it.... Sad git!

Had breakfast with Stuart and then Pat and Fiona arrived. They had kindly offered to drive me the scenic route to Waimate as the bike ride is not that great from Christchurch. I had spoken to several people and they said that rather than riding for 2 days to get there I should get a lift and then spend longer around other areas such as Milford Sounds.

There was lots of earth quake damage as we traveled trough Christchurch. The spire of this church had fallen off and was in the garden in front ready to be put back up!












Pat and Fiona were very welcoming. They took me along all of the back roads and up the hills to see the views. We stopped off for lunch in Littlyton at a lovely little cafe over looking the harbor.




My first impressions of NZ is that it is like the UK 20-30 years ago - very quaint. Unlike the Brits they do not throw away things that work perfectly well just because it is old. They don't have the same obsession with having to have the newest kitchen and bathroom etc. I loved this medicine cabinet - it has not changed in years.




When we got to Waimate we had a great evening with Steak and a bit too much red wine and Jamesons. Good to have a chilled day off the bike and still see loads of things. :-)