Christchurch
- 17 hours ago
- 4 min read
27 April to May, 2026 - Christchurch is the largest city on the South Island of New Zealand with a population of 550,000 people. We are actually staying in Templeton, a suburb.
Our route today took us through Burkes Pass where we stopped at the eclectic Three Creeks area. I found a sign for Jax Beer and wonder if that's from Jacksonville....
Buni and I decided to try out the motorcycle.
Our next stop was the Fairlie Bake shop where we had the obligatory pie. Chris had some vegan curry something (yuck) and I had mince and cheese. I'd rate these about a 7/10 - good crust, good filling, but it lost something when it was warmed up.
A word about NZ hedges - one thing that was a surprise for me throughout the S. Island is the pruned hedges along the fields. These hedges might be several stories high. They are used to shelter the animals and are most impressive. These photos probably don't do them justice.
Our AirBnB is "The Cottage" in Templeton. We are quite a way outside of Christchurch and can't walk to any shopping, but the place itself is quite large with plenty of room to spread out.
April 28 - Sightseeing in Christchurch.
Today was beautiful weather for sightseeing and there were many things to see in Christchurch.
Our first stop was C1 Espresso which was an eclectic coffee house. This place used pneumatic tubes to deliver our burger and fries, but not our coffee:)
Other quirky things: to go to the bathroom, the library wall had to open
and the water dispenser was via a sewing machine that turned on by moving the wheel that moves the sewing needle. I never exactly figured out how to stop the water....
From here we took the heritage hop on/off tram tour around the downtown area.
The driver pointed out the mini cooper car on the side of the building which memorializes when the cars came back into NZ.
We stopped first to see the punting on the River Avon. We didn't see it here, but did see one at our next stop which was at the Botanic Gardens.
The Gardens were made more beautiful due to the lovely weather.
We saw this amazing 100+ year old eucalypt tree. A lady offered to stand next to it to give a sense of its scale.
and the daffodil garden. Amazingly some were still in bloom.
The war memorial was quite impressive - it was the day after ANZAC Day, so there were also a lot of flowers at its base.
Our next stop was Regent Street which was a disappointment, so we got right back on again and back to the car.
We next went to take the gondola up to the lookout point. At least we knew they were clean.
The weather was great and we could see for miles
We were treated to being able to watch the modern sheepherders move their sheep down a road. Modern sheepherders use their cars and several dogs.
April 29 - Rakaia Gorge Hike-
50 minutes from our place is the Rakaia Gorge. We decided to hike the 6.5 mile Rakaia Gorge Walkway because it was recommended on social media. Here's the description: easy/moderate. It features a stunning turquoise river, dramatic steep cliffs, and native woodland. The popular 10.4 km Rakaia Gorge Walkway offers scenic viewpoints of the braided river and Southern Alps, with options for shorter walks to see historical coal mines and stunning geological lava flows. It was moderate and ended up being 2200+ elevation gain. The weather was wonderful, the river was a stunning turquoise color and the alps were beautiful with snow on them. There was also a closed off mine shaft.
This is Chris' (and Buni's) influencer shot.
It was really windy and we were expecting an easier hike. By the end we were exhausted.
The views were very pretty, but, frankly, we'd seen more spectacular gorges and running rivers. Not sure we can really recommend this hike, but it was a nice day out.
Tonight was our date night and we went to a local restaurant called Two Fat Possums. We had another disappointing meal. Pizza with some strange sauce on it.
April 30 - Godley Head Walkway and Taylors mistake loop. What a wonderful day of hiking with great weather. We took a slightly different (and better) route up and over the hill instead of out/back on the same trail. It was slightly shorter - 5.3 miles vs. 6.1 - and slightly more elevation gain 1100 instead of 1000.
This route took us around for some beautiful ocean views
to the Taylor Battery which was used to protect the Lyttelton Port during WW2. The Germans got close enough to lay mines across the port mouth. About 30 men were stationed here.
May 1 - Akaroa
Akaroa is a French-inspired harbor town located on the Banks Peninsula.
Our first stop was Barry's Bay Traditional Cheese where we spent another NZ$100 on yet more cheese. Yes, we still have cheese from our first stop. No, I won't be getting a cholesterol test anytime soon. No photos, was in a cholesterol haze.
Next it was time for a hike. Today we hiked 6 miles with 1700 foot elevation gain. This was a walkway through the Rolleston Family Farm on a peninsula that juts into the harbor between French Bay and Takamatua.
It was an interesting walk in that there were many animal sculptures along the way. The heron is live....
But it was hot and we were happy to be done.
Finally we got over to Akaroa. I wanted to stop at a la Baguette for lunch, but that closed at noon. We ended up at a better place where we had the best homemade meat pies to date. 9/10 for freshness, filling, and crust.
From there we found a place that made American thick milk shakes instead of just shaken milk.
The next two days were days off, so nothing to report. We are off to Nelson. Look for my next post in a week.
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