White Wedding

Tuesday January 8th - Sunday January 13th

A pretty relaxing week for us for a change. A chance to just do some touristy type things and also attend a wedding. By the end of it we're both feeling a lot better after recovering from our walks and colds. Rach did get my man flu, she preferred to think of it as lady's ailment, but it left her feeling a bit worse for wear for most of the week.

From Tuatapere in the south-west we decided to drive all the way around the coast back to Christchurch as we'd not seen any of this part of New Zealand on our previous trips. The weather has been spectacularly good all week. We understand that it's a little wet and cold back home so won't overdo the descriptions of blue skies, warm sun, blue seas, golden sand beaches etc.

There are a lot of interesting sights around the south coast. You can walk to the southerly most point of the South Island, Slope Point. A wind-battered, god-forsaken bit of coastline where the trees all grow at 45°. From there you can go to somewhere where the trees are horizontal. The petrified forest, not a really frightened patch of trees, but a prehistoric forest that has now become rock and is visible in the shoreline. Very strange looking at trees but touching them and feeling rock.

We passed through a lot of one-horse towns as there aren't many people living in this neck of the woods. The only major towns are Invercargill and Dunedin and with the latter being Student Central it was pretty quiet too at this time of year. It's meant finding places to stay has been pretty easy as well despite the summer holiday season. We'll find it busier in the North Island in a week or so I'm sure.

We've seen some interesting wildlife this week as well seeing yellow-eyed penguins and also Royal Albatrosses. The albatrosses are huge birds with a 3m wingspan and seeing them flying around the headland where we were was an impressive sight. They were also in the process of nesting as well which was interesting to learn about.

Rounding off our drive up the coast we had a look at the Moeraki Boulders, the near-spherical lumps of rock that have been eroded from the cliffs at the back of the beach where they lie. Inside they have a kind of honeycomb structure which can be seen where some appear to have hatched open.

And so, after a 4-week tour of the South Island, we ended up back in Christchurch for the last time on this trip. Will it be the last time ever or could we back before too long? Our reason for being back this time was to attend the wedding of our friends Dave and Tara. I went to university with Dave and it was great to be able to be here for their big day. And it was another lovely day too, with the venue just outside the city and the ceremony taking place under a huge willow tree, offering grateful shade from the 30°+ heat outside. The rest of the day took place in a Mediterranean style setting with a large courtyard and then big open room. The bride and groom looked fantastic, the bride more so obviously, and the day was a great occasion. It was also a final chance to dress up smartly on this trip. Back to the shorts and t-shirts for us now.

We're now in Nelson getting ourselves ready for another walk. This time it's the Abel Tasman Coast Track which we're going to do over 4 days this week and should be a lot easier than our last one and have plenty of opportunities for relaxing on the beach, so long as there's not too many sandflies to eat us.

The week's 24/7s:

Tuesday: As man flu goes, lady's ailment begins

Wednesday: Atishoo, atishoo we've all got colds now

Thursday: Police cars everywhere, kept well below speedlimit

Friday: A mistimed sneeze and it's downhill driving

Saturday: A nice day for a white wedding

Sunday: Hot and stuffy but bus is cheap