January 1

Return to Christchurch

It was a beautiful morning at Arthur's Pass. The water here was not safe to drink, according to the health department, so I boiled it carefully before making coffee. Peter was going to climb Avalanche Peak today, and the Israeli would do another walk. I was heading back to Christchurch, where I would turn in my rental car.

I called the Kaikoura YHA to ask about extending my stay to the Jan. 3, in case I had to stay longer to see the whales. The manager misunderstood, and said she had a bed for tonight. She thought I could get there today, taking a shuttle from Christchurch around 5:30, so I said I would try.

I started driving to Christchurch at 10:30. On my way down from the pass, I came upon three trampers looking for a ride. I offered them a ride to a town on the way to Christchurch. It was a man around 60 and his two sons, who had been walking a partly unmarked route east of Arthur's Pass. They had encountered some bad weather earlier, and extended their trip to make a stream crossing safely. I barely had room in the small Mazda for the riders and their packs. When we arrived at their home, the father gave me $50 for the ride. He said he would invite me in for lunch, but they wouldn't have anything to offer since they had been out.

I got back to Christchurch around 1 PM and went to the Antarctic Center near the airport. The Christchurch airport is the gateway for many Antarctic expeditions, in particular for the Scott Camp. I had lunch there, a kind of tomato-onion-cheese croissant and a lime milkshake. Then I toured the exhibit for $10. It was rather elaborate, beginning with a display showing a year at Scott Camp, long ago, which you could walk through. Cold air blowing from wind vents added a touch of realism, and it would have been uncomfortable to stay there long. The exhibit continued through several display areas, entering a replica of a research station and continuing on to an Antarctic aquarium, several continuous videos, penguin exhibits, an "ice cave", and a wide screen slide show. It was rather well designed in general. The gallery above had some nice Antarctic photographs.

I drove downtown to see if I could really get a shuttle to Kaikoura today. At the information and ticketing center, they said that because it was a holiday, they were on a special schedule, and there were no more shuttles today. It was just as well, since I drove to Trusty Rentals and found that they were closed, though a sign said they would open if necessary. I decided to see if I could get a room for the night. I called the Cora Wilding Hostel, which was in a quiet part of town, in an old mansion in a park. They had space. It was a long way from city center, and probably gets few guests without cars.

I looked around the arts and crafts center downtown, then drove out to the gondola, where I took a ride to the top for $12. Although it had been sunny in town, there was too much haze to see the city clearly, and clouds blew over the hilltop periodically, blocking the view completely. The view over the other side of the hill, to Lyttleton on a harbor, was more impressive. The hills surrounding Lyttleton and the harbor are remnants of an extinct volcano. This gondola view was much less impressive than the one at Queenstown, I thought, although it could be nice in better weather. Even then, it was clear that there was a road on the ridge, so there was another way to get here.

After returning to the bottom, I drove to the hostel, which would be open now, since it was after 5 PM. I had to call them for directions once. The hostel was a beautiful old white mansion, with lovely grounds, and a large grassy yard in front, with flowers.

After selecting a bed in the dorm, I drove back to the gondola to try to find the road to the top that I saw before. I guessed correctly that it was a road beginning in a residential area just beyond the gondola turnoff. I had a map to help. Summit Drive ran all around the rim of the old volcano. The sky was totally clear now, though it was still hazy in the distance, over Christchurch. I followed the road out to several viewpoints, as the sun began to set. I drove back downtown by a different route, past a fancy Gothic-style restaurant, the Sign of the Takehe, and parked near the Arts Center.

I went to a brew-pub, Dux Delux, for dinner. I had stopped there my first time in Christchurch, and tried their beers. Their menu looked interesting, so I wanted to try the food this time. They had some interesting pizza, as well as a seafood selection and some vegetarian dishes. I ordered the Cajun calamari rings with three salads and a Hereford Bitter, brewed here. Afterward, I had a slice of chocolate-fudge cake. Actually, they thought the slices were small, so they brought me two. It was dense cake, and I was already full, so I brought one slice back to the hostel.

At the hostel, I tried to book a bus to Kaikoura for the morning. This turned out to be difficult, because most left early to meet ferries in Picton. The manager was able to find a company called Southern Shuttles that had a van to Kaikoura scheduled for 9 AM. They were closed, but she left a message on their machine. That van should be leaving late enough to give me time to turn in my car in the morning. I went to bed around 10 PM.

Copyright Scott A. Yost, 1996. All rights reserved.