Day 8: Christchurch

We packed up and made our way out of the Holiday Park. While the amenities at the Holiday Park were nice, it was by far my least favourite due to the cramped stalls for the campervans. It's not the most maneuverable of areas and just getting into our spot involved driving through someone else's area. The dump station for the grey water was set up in a very awkward manner which made draining the tank a very slow tedious process, not to mention the fact that I had to drive to somewhere else in order to fill up the water tank. In short, I'm glad to be rid of the place.

We had breakfast at the Christchurch Cathedral Cafe, and then proceeded to spend the next couple hours touring the Cathedral itself. I spent a semester studying Gothic architecture while at the U of A (one of my electives), and while the course material was awe inspiring, it cannot begin to describe the feeling of being immersed in it. We started our self-guided tour right after the All Saints service had concluded. The smell of incence filled the air, and while Jenny wasn't too fond of it, I actually found myself enjoying it. I took numerous pictures of the stained glass, and we made our way to the top of the bell tower to gain somewhat of a 360 degree view of the city.

After the Cathedral, we began a bit of a suggested day walk that took us past the Spanish Shops area. The tram drives through the area and it certainly lent itself to having an old world feel.

One of the sights on the walk is the Floral Clock. I expected it to be a bit more impressive than it was. I'll let you judge for yourself.

We made our way through the arts district, which took us through a market. One of the merchants had these very interesting wine stands. They're made from a single piece of wood, either straight or curved, and to get it to hold up your bottle of wine, you stuck the neck of the bottle through a hole and let the weight of the bottle balance the plank on an angle. Very cool idea. I wish I'd bought one, and I think I'll be keeping an eye out for something similar.

The Canterbury Museum was the next stop on the walk. In my opinion, it was quite a bit more informative than the Otago Museum in Dunedin, but that should not diminish Dunedin's cultural offerings in anyway. It is more of a commentary on how impressive the Canterbury museum was. I should point out that the majority of the buildings we went past were done in the Gothic style.

After a day of touring around Christchurch, we hit the road towards Kaikoura. Kaikoura's got a lot to do: golfing, surfing, wineries, whale watching. It's a beautiful little community right off the ocean. We stopped at the BP to fuel up, fill up the clean water tank, and get some info on where to free camp for the night. Two lads that we talked to told us of a place right off the coast where the "surfies" like to hang out. On our way out of BP (British Petrolium, not Boston Pizza), we saw a police officer and posed the same question to him. He said that we could park for the night down by the old railway station, or head to the same beach the gas station attendant told us about. We rolled the dice and headed for the beach. After a couple of wrong turns in the dark, we made our way there, and were greeted by the roar of the surf. We could see several campers, a few fires on the beach, and knew we had found home for the night.

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