NZ - Christchurch and surrounds

Our accommodation in Christchurch was a cottage a few miles outside of the city centre and came with cows who were very interested in our movements plus a few 'chooks' who seemed like they would like to join us for dinner if we let them. We were not far from New Brighton - a long expanse of sandy beach with a famous pier.

We explored the city centre. The earthquake damage is still quite evident but we liked the mix of new and old and loved the colourful botanical gardens. We also managed to see Eddie Izzard who was on tour.

We drove two hours to Arthur's pass which links East and West of the South Island and followed the walking tracks. On our last day, we walked from Taylor's Mistake to Godley Heads where we saw the remnants of the WWII coastal defence batteries (never fired a shot apparently) and beautiful views of the bays.