Overland from East to West... via Gore

We headed off to the next coast, passing through a few towns on the way.

We saw the rural way to go over a fence,

The bridge at Balclutha,

Some more of the southern island locals,

The fish at Gore,

... and plenty of open road.

Otago Peninsula Dunedin

Another place well worth making time for, we were up here often, just driving through the scenery, the views, the wildlife... the sheep.

It's very gusty of the ocean side, so bring jackets! We loved how the area is designed to be user friendly for tourists while maintaining the space and environs for those who live in the area. Sadly we didn't see any penguins, but we felt connected with nature, it's great to be 'removed' from the city, even if just for a short while :)

http://www.otago-peninsula.co.nz

Someone needs to help this poor fellow get the twig out of his face... I wonder if he even realises it's there?

Dunedin - Chinese Gardens

I always love a good Chinese garden, I love the moon gates, the way the buildings and the lakes are laid out, and the Koi.

Dunedin was a wonderful example of how a Chinese garden should be - my other favourite is in Sydney :) https://www.dunedin.govt.nz/dcg

What was extra special, after we clambered through the stone waterfall, we could purchase feed for the fish. This just added to the experience and enjoyment of the kids, making the whole visit that much more special.

 

Dunedin - Cadbury Chocolate Factory

Oh my Yummy Yummy Yummy!

The best value tour we went on, so much Chocolate samples, so cheap to buy from the shop, so much too look at and the smell!!

For around $60 for the whole family, we had a fantastic experience. The chocolate drop of around 1 Tonne of liquid chocolate in the silo was both loud and insane.

We were fortunate enough to get a 'double' helping of the melted chocolate sample to taste, along with a variety of chocolate samples through out the tour.

The Golden mountain below are all Crunchie bars... my favourite... enough to make you cry!

How many Cocoa beans would you value yourself at? If a slave is 100...

One of the original cars, purple is such a happy colour :)

Did you know... it takes 6 months for them to make the chocolate for NZ for Easter.... and 2 weeks for it to get eaten! Madness!

Dunedin - Railway Station

History and Beauty, a wonderful place to see how things were over 100 years ago, with one of the most photoigraphed buildings in New Zealand.

The detail in the tiles and patterns in stunning, and the stained glass windows are kept in pristine condition. The gardens are lovely and the sponsorship walk with the printed bricks makes for something special.

 

We could have spent a lot longer around here, seeing the art shop and catching a tourist train, but simply didn't have the time. It ended up being a quick stop, a few photos, and a lasting impression.

Dunedin - World's Steepest Street

This is truly a one of a kind, and I have to say I don't envy the people who live on this street.

We drove up to the bottom of the hill, looked at it and said "Nope, I don't trust that the car will make it".
So we got out and walked, took photos, commented on how much our calves were complaining, had a breather at the top, walked back to the bottom and got certificates to prove we were here.

 Sadly, we weren't there at the Jaffa Festival...  THAT is the only way it could get better ;)
http://chocolatecarnival.co.nz/jaffa_race

Christchurch

For a city that shook, it has been doing an incredible job tidying up the dregs of  the buildings and the rubble on the streets.

When we drove through, we could see boarded windows, protective fencing, empty blocks of land, and some buildings still being pulled down.
What amazed me most was on one street everything was fine and dandy, yet around the corner a full block was turned to rubble.

In the clean up process it seems as though they had run out of room, and we saw a large warehouse / shelter that was full to the roof with broken pieces of buildings. Really brought home just how much work has been done... and how much there still is to go.

Kaikoura Seal Colony

I am going to be using the words - amazing, astounding and beautiful a lot for a while. 

The south island of New Zealand has some of the best natural features of anywhere in the globe in an extremely compact space. Fjordlands? Forget Norway, head for Te Anau. Glaciers? Go to Fox or Franz Josef. Outstanding Rock Formations - go to Punakaiki. 

Wild colonies of seals by the roadside? Kaikouri is you destination!

This was a great surprise for us, one of the things we hadn't researched and had the fortune to stop at. We were following the ocean road on the East Coast and simply stopped at a lookout for a break and a view. 

We got out of the car, looked over the water and said... hey... there's a seal out there... and another one... and another!! Then we realised what we were looking at and went a little crazy watching the antics of this purely wild creature so close by.

They were noisy, and they stank, and they frolicked in the rock pools with every wave that came in. Amazing!