Up High and Out Wide - exploring outside the city

Coffee, groceries, lunch making, nagging the boys to get up and moving.....typical morning it seems.

In the end, Logan was the most sensible one of the lot of us - remembering to pack sunscreen and making sure we had sufficient snacks. Miscommunication meant we didn't have sufficient snacks in the car as would have been useful. 

Today was adventure day. We went to the Gondola today since the weather was looking the best. There is still a chill in the air, but it was a stunner of a clear and sunny day. The view from the top of the ride is spectacular.

 

A cruise ship was in Lyttelton Harbour so a few extra guests were up the mountain, but it wasn’t too busy and the warning that cable cars would be packed to capacity of 4 adults didn’t seem to be enforced.

The gondola ride was pretty uneventful, barring the few times mum got mad at us for shaking the cable car, but we got to the top and quickly wasted our time looking at the souvenir trash at the gift shop. We eventually bought some of this trash for our wreath before setting out on a short hike out to a lookout.

The lookout was sickkkk lad, and we could see the whole of Christchurch. We snacked on chips before returning back to the top where we had a drink and took photos. This is where we realised the view was possibly better from up top. The walk wasn't arduous, but Jane was a little concerned about going back up and voiced the need for some help to which Jonty said "It's like a buffet, mum. Help yourself."

We headed down on the gondola with mum still mad at us shaking the cabin, where we had lunch under a tree in the carpark until the breeze got too cold. Then we heading out to Akaroa, via the Lyttleton Tunnel to explore the French history in New Zealand. After a beautiful drive we finally got out to the 'Frenchest town in NZ'. We explored the museum which was also sickkkkk lad, as we got to learn about the history of Akaroa and the European influence.

We learnt that Akaroa is as French as Napier is the Art Deco Capital. It's more of a tourist gimmick than actual fact.

I'm glad we went out to Akaroa - it is a little town that has played a big role in Aotearoa's history. Te Tiriti was signed there, and it was part of the Centennial celebrations.  Shackleton's expedition left from there. It's like several places in NZ that were once famous and influential but now are out of the way and remote places. Good harbours do not often equal good and easy road access.

We are struggling to connect to the the Android Auto, or get the car to do many of the things we would like and need to do such as playing the radio. This meant we had Logan's spotify to keep us entertained for most of the journey.

This early map of Te Wai Pounamu or New Munster (South Island doesn't seem too lame a name after all...) shows a modified island. Maybe it's a projection thing, but it looks like it's has a waist trainer and butt implants.

This map was part of an exhibition called "The Measure of Things". We got to see how big a Peck was, as well as standardised gallons and calipers to ensure wine caskets were appropriately sized.

The museum is well done and all free! It ended with a documentary of the history of Akaroa and the peninsular in the old courthouse.

Going to the museum meant we missed out on many of the cafes being open. We found a place that was open, served coffee and has a flea market of sorts. Logan hummed and haa-ed over many different items, but settled on a pair of pants.

We went to find the memorial erected after WWI. It's a huge monument, and I like how the inside mirrors the peninsular - volcanic rock underneath and limestone above. It's a clever piece of architecture.

After buying some driving pills at the Four Square before taking off, we made it home easily. Christchurch has some of it's own road cone issues. Intersections, especially right hand turns are CRAZY. It has to do with multi laned one-way streets and no right turn arrows at lights. Green doesn't always mean go in many situations.

Dinner was some very satisfactory burgers. We can't work out how to get the dishwasher to work though. There are master switches for many things, but we can't find it and no amount of pushing the power button powers it up, despite all of us trying.

Tomorrow we are going to explore the city on the trams. There are a couple of gf bakeries that promise to be a treat to explore.