Christmas in Christchurch
A home for Māori for about 700 years, Lyttleton was then a major gateway for colonial settlers and has since always been the port for Christchurch. The port is now the South Island’s principal goods transport terminal and a destination for cruise liners. The harbor is massive and easy for you to see on the map just on the south side of the city and the north end of the Banks peninsula. It is the crater of a volcanic eruption 11 million years ago that then filled when the sea rose 7000 years ago.
Surrounded by the golden and rocky “Port Hills” and lined with tiny bays, it is beautiful. We stayed in one of those little bays, Rapaki – more on that in a bit. I wanted to do two weeks in the Christchurch area and decided on one week in the heart of the city (next week) and one week in the outskirts, hence this wonderful choice. As it turns out, we loved this area so much that we didn’t go into Christchurch central at all this week.
Like Christchurch itself, Lyttleton was devastated by the September 2010 Canterbury earthquake, February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, and June 2011 Christchurch earthquake, with the middle one being extremely close to Lyttleton. They lost the majority of their heritage buildings, churches and countless homes. The city is clearly still in a state of revival, with buildings still sitting fenced off right in the heart of a vibrant downtown. It was inspiring to see new projects and calls for community voice in decisions on how to reshape the town. Tiny Rapaki was also severely impacted, with at least one home being wiped out by a boulder that came down from the impressive port hills that dominate the sky behind the village.
Monday – Move Day
I was up early, being more than ready to prepare to leave. On the road before 9:30, but we made a long stop in Blenheim for Spark cards (success) and calcium (no success) and then down a beautiful highway to Kaikoura. First rolling golden hills with vineyards, much like eastern Washington gorge. Then a windswept (very windswept today) and deserted coast with sweeping views of a blue ocean and never-ending gravel beach with seemingly no access.
Finally able to stop for a quick view at the Kekerangu Store and then onward south to Oahu for the start of a seal spectacular! First we stopped at a roadside pullout and scrambled across rocks to watch more than a dozen seals lounging around – we were amazed how close we were to the seals (not too close!) and how alone we were.
Then we reached the Oahu lookout and were completely in awe. Hundreds of seals – families! Seal pups everywhere – playing, swimming, nursing, learning to crawl. Moms and dads lounging around or giving the occasional bit of help. Teenagers learning to fight for their chosen spot. We stayed for a long time but I wanted to stay forever. There was literally no end to the entertainment. The pups were the cutest things ever – sopping wet and mewling. (The lookout is not at all commercial or developed – just a parking lot on the side of the highway with a place to stand and a rail to look over into this long established colony.)
Carrying on, the seals were all along the coast – but mostly just adults as the lookout is the preferred haulout spot for families with babies. Another spot we wanted to go where the pups play in a waterfall (yes, this exists! NZ is amazing!) has been inaccessible (to humans) since the Kaikoura earthquakes. We’ll be back in this area in March on our way out of the South Island, but it’s expensive so are only staying a couple of nights. Therefore we decided to take advantage of the Kaikoura coast today too.
The town of Kaikoura itself was busy and touristy (reminded us of Newport in Oregon), but thinned out immediately thereafter. After a picnic along the shore, we walked the Kaikoura coastal walk which first goes along the headlands with beautiful views and returns along the coastal shelf, complete with more seals and their antics.
Two hours of driving through curvy and hilly inland terrain and we reached the outskirts of Christchurch where we stopped for grocery shopping. It was a zoo with everyone doing their big Christmas shop. Then through the tunnel to the Port of Lyttleton and around the bays to our amazing spot in Rapaki.
We stayed in a magical place, just right for the holidays. I splurged a bit on this one – not overboard though and worth every penny. As mentioned, Rapaki is one of the little bays of Lyttleton Harbour, but not one you’ll read about as a holiday spot because it turns out it is a Maori village.
There is a Marae here (meeting house) and the Maori govern the village from there. Our host, Manaia, is Maori and the most welcoming and warm man you can ever hope to meet. We were bowled over by their hospitality on our arrival – first Manny (the Sydney Silky) then Manaia and finally calmer but so gracious Debbie who pulled us into their home (attached to our apartment) to tell us about the area and give us eggs from their chickens and home baked bread.
The views from our bedroom and porch are of the harbor and Quail Island (past the traditional wakas (canoes)), and the views from our living room are of the rock formations on the hills that rise up behind the village. And of course of the rest of their compound – they have fields of sheep and alpaca, a large garden and greenhouse, another standalone Airbnb house and carports full of toys (jet skis, dinghies, kayaks) and garages from which he runs his flooring business.
It was late by this time, but we could not resist a break from settling in to stop for time on the deck as the day ended.
Tuesday – Christmas Eve
Christmas came early for Hale with perfect conditions for kiting at the estuary so he had a great afternoon with two sessions there.
Meanwhile I enjoyed gorgeous tracks from Evans Pass to Godley Head and Taylors Mistake. Really beautiful scenery along rocky fields shared with adorable sheep, along steep edges overlooking Lyttleton all the way out to the harbor entrance (Godley Head.) My first hour was completely solitary (if you don’t count the sheep) and then started to get a little more populated as I reached the head with its WWII station. Apparently there were 10 German mines laid across the harbor entrance but never deployed, so this was a very large and active defense base. My walk along the outer coast to Taylors Mistake was stunning – looking down into rocky coves with blues, greens, blacks, reds and golds as the standout colors. All golden on the workout back over the hill to meet Hale at Evans Pass.
Wednesday – Christmas
A quiet, relaxing holiday. Morning stroll down to Rapaki marae, church, wharf and beach. Leisurely brunch with homemade toast. Facetime with family. Coastal walks at Diamond Harbour to Purau and Maori Garden Beach. Watched first TV in ages – very interesting “In our Blue Backyard” New Zealand program on whales, dolphins, fish, seabirds, etc. in various NZ waters.
Thursday – Boxing Day
Another windy day so Hale had another great session kitesurfing at the estuary after running errands.
After a morning spent on photo management, I was happy to get back up into the Port Hills with walks from Sign of the Kiwi to Sign of the Bellbird and throughout the Ohinetahi Reserve. All along the way were great views over the harbor, but highlights were the rock formations and occasional glimpse over the hills westward to ocean beyond Banks Peninsula. (I went that way instead of towards Lyttleton as planned because of the crazy mass of people in Kiwi Café area – everyone was out with their families for Boxing Day. My way turned out to have just the right scattering of people.)
We were both exhausted by end of day so had an early night.
Friday
A perfect day to hit the Banks Peninsula with wind clocking all around and a mix of sun and cloud. This is a stunning peninsula just south of Christchurch – google it and you will be immediately intrigued by its unique volcanic geography. Just the drive out was scenic, but it got better as we drove down to Pigeon Bay from where we did a beautiful coastal walk through farm pastures along the bay coast out to the tip. At the tip we could see north to the Kaikoura coast and snowcapped Alps just visible through the clouds south of there, the jagged coast of the Banks itself both directions, and the most spectacular rock cliffs and formations right at this point. We shared the spot (but not our apples) with the sheep grazing all around us.
The walk back was just as gorgeous and with most of it on a farm track, easy for conversation as we tossed around ideas for how to spend the next twelve months. On our return, the head of the bay had been transformed into a festive area with jet skis, waterskiing boats, families grilling and kids swimming – Kiwi holidays. Back on the summit road we stopped for a picnic at the side of the road and were soon joined by a tour bus stopping for pictures – a reminder of how lucky we are to have striking views with almost every meal or snack these days.
Then we were off to Ōtepatotu Reserve for a quick walk through goblin forest to Lavericks Peak with its cell tower and wind generator and good views over Akaroa. Then a bit more of the beautiful summit drive before a short stop in touristy “French” Akaroa. Cruise ships come here almost every day and it’s also clearly a popular spot for other visitors as the streets and restaurants were still packed after the last cruise ship shuttles had departed. We took the much shorter route home and loved that it was warm enough for pleasant sunset time on patio without hats and gloves.
Saturday
Our time at this magical spot was coming to an end too quickly. I was up early catching up on journal and watching chickens play outside the glass doors. Where’s Mannie this morning? Watching him skip to chase them is usually a hilarious start to the day.
We took Manaia’s suggestion to attend the Lyttleton Market, and made a full day of it by walking the pretty coastal track there and back, seeing the cool town in its state of rebirth, wandering the laid back market, trying out the passion fruit gelato, hanging out in the square listening to buskers and walking up to the Timeball Station and down to the new marina before heading home.
The Timeball Station was fascinating – not only its destruction and rebuild after the earthquakes, but the sheer fact of its existence. Even as sailors, we never knew about these devices that dropped a ball at a precise GMT time every day to help mariners reset their clocks around the world for celestial navigation purposes.
The marina is brand new (still in development) after the earthquakes and we were excited to see a Peterson (same as our Cayuga) docked there. Unfortunately the docks were locked so we couldn’t get out to it for a chat with the owner. Another attractive return walk and fun seeing the beaches filled with Kiwi families out enjoying the holidays.
The wind had come up and with the late high tide, it was perfect timing for Hale to head to the estuary for a kitesurf evening while I caught up on things at home.
Sunday
Another beautiful day with perfect cool temperatures. We had a quiet morning leading up to our planned Merriman Facetime while they were gathered for the annual festivities. Great to see them all, but I feel so far away! Realize we need to do more 1:1 or small group calls to keep in touch since hard to say more than Merry Christmas with a group of 13. With a late start, we decided to forego another trip to the Banks Peninsula and do more local Port Hills walks which turned out to be perfect and fortuitous!
We started with the very inner end of the Crater Rim track, which I had been doing parts of all week. This one went from Sign of the Bellbird to Ahuriri reserve and provided a mix of open fields, hills, rock formations and cool, dark areas of bush. The views were over the harbor, but also over the Canterbury Plains, with the Alps rising behind them, and over Lake Ellsmere with the ocean sparkling blue just beyond. We passed two people and sadly, only about that many sheep. Another perfect picnic spot just up the trail on a shady bench overlooking the harbor.
After a short extra side walk to Sign of the Kiwi Café from a roadside stop, we drove out to the end of the Summit Road and rejoined the Crater Rim track. We ended up staying mostly along the closed road admiring the rock formations of Witches Hat, Tors and Castle Rock.
As we neared the Bridle Path intersection, we heard a dog barking and tried to investigate but couldn’t quite see him. As we passed and went to the Pioneer Women’s Monument, we could see that he was staying in one spot up against the fence so we went back to investigate. We assumed he was tied up or hurt, but when Hale got close to him, it seemed he was neither. Why was he sitting crying in one spot? Did someone abandon him? Hale made friends by giving water and then checked his tag and found his name was Braxton and a number. I called but got no response so we decided to somehow get him out of the field and take him with us, thinking our hosts wouldn’t mind if we kept him over Sunday night and then took him to a shelter on Monday.
As Hale was leading him along, I heard back from James (his person) and they had lost Braxton earlier in the day and had been out searching for him. When we got to the gate area, we couldn’t get Braxton over because it was a cattle grid rather than a stile, so eventually Hale lifted him over the fence, gave him some more water, fixed a lead out of his fleece and we started walking our new dog along the closed road to meet his people who were walking to meet us.
Braxton was exhausted, but such a sweetheart who easily adapted to us as if we’d been friends forever. James and Anne Marie were so happy to have him back – he’d run off to chase sheep and after looking for hours they had just been about to give up for the day when they heard from us. We all walked back to our cars together and we went home with grins on our faces.
Wrap
What a perfect week. A beautiful home, idyllic location, fine weather, great kiting opportunities and endless walking tracks. The happiest of holidays indeed.
Week 10 of our journey