New Zealand

    South Island 

Christchurch and surrounding area

Snow capped mountain view from the Tranz Apine Scenic Train

On our way to Christchurch we stopped at at Rakaia Gorge.

Rakaia Gorge

The water was so brilliant blue, but oh my goodness was it windy!

Rakaia Gorge

From there we drove over to Washpen Falls.  It is a waterfall on private land, but the owners of the farm allow the public to hike back to the waterfall for a small fee ($10) that is deposited in an honesty box.  They have restrooms, maps and information about the falls and the area surrounding the falls.  The path is well marked and the waterfall is very pretty!  But bring your bug spray or bug wipes, because the sandflies at the waterfall are VICIOUS. 

Washpen Falls

Washpen Falls

Washpen Falls

Washpen Falls

We had the waterfall all to ourselves while we were there, which was really cool.

Christchurch is the largest city on the South Island and second largest city by population in all of New Zealand.  As you look around Christchurch, it is a very modern city with new houses and buildings with very few old historic buildings.  

Christchurch Convention Center and Avon River which cuts through the central business district

The Royal Theater

Mural on the sides of buildings

Mural on the side of a building

Metal art sculpture on the street 

Why does the city have such a new appearance with relatively few historic buildings when it was founded in 1856?  This is largely due to the fact that much of Christchurch had to be rebuilt after 2010 and 2011 earthquakes.   In 2011, it suffered catastrophic damage due to a 6.3 magnitude earthquake centered between Lyttelton and Christchurch.  The earthquake hit at 12:51 pm February 22, 2011.  The quake hit just 6 months after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit in September 2010.  The 2010 earthquake left some damaged buildings, but there was no loss of life.  The second (2011) earthquake, however, occurred on a shallow fault line  with liquefaction.  This combination of factors led to much more destruction in the February 2011 earthquake and turned deadly, killing 185 people.  According to New Zealand History webpage (https://nzhistory.govt.nz/page/christchurch-earthquake-kills-185), nearly 2/3 of the

buildings in the central business district were damaged and subsequently needed to be demolished.  Power to the area was restored quickly within days, however, the damage to water and sewer lines was significant.  Because of all the damage caused, some areas of the central business district were cordoned off until June 2013

Christchurch Transitional Cathedral (Cardboard Church) 

The Christchurch Transitional Cathedral (Cardboard Church) was erected as an interim cathedral after the original Christchurch Cathedral was damaged in the 2011 earthquake.  The damaged Cathedral still sits in cathedral square surrounded by construction barriers, with windows boarded up and steel beams stabilizing the structure symbolizing the city still in recovery.   

Christchurch Cathedral (2025) still in the process of being repaired

We also visited Willowbank wildlife reserve that is at the north side of Christchurch.  It was a fairly sizable area with a wide variety of animals and birds.  It was a fun way to spend a couple of hours.

Frog at Willowbank

Lemur at Willowbank

Otter at Willowbank

Parrot at Willowbank

Galah at Willowbank

Rainbow Lorikeet at Willowbank

Cockatoo at Willowbank

Emu at Willowbank

Golden Pheasant at Willowbank

Wallabys at Willowbank

Capybaras at Willowbank

Ruru (owl) at Willowbank

Scenic Train Ride

There are three scenic train rides in New Zealand, two of which depart and return to Christchurch.  The Tranz Alpine Scenic Train connects Christchurch to Greymouth going through the southern alps and passing through Arthur's Pass.  We decided to take the scenic train through the mountains and the scenery was beautiful.  It had snowed in the mountains the day prior to our train trip, so we were able to see many snow capped mountains.

Views from the Tranz Apine Scenic Train

Views from the Tranz Apine Scenic Train

Views from the Tranz Apine Scenic Train

Views from the Tranz Apine Scenic Train

Views from the Tranz Apine Scenic Train

Views from the Tranz Apine Scenic Train

Lake Brunner from Tranz Alpine Scenic Train

We enjoyed the train ride and the scenic views, however, if we did this again, we would likely use it as a mode of transportation from Greymouth to Christchurch or the reverse.  Since we had a car, we actually saw much of this area on our trek through the south island and probably saw it better as we could stop and check out the scenery at our leisure.  There was also an 8 km train tunnel just after Arthur's Pass where you could not see any of the scenery of the alps.  But if you are visiting New Zealand for only a few weeks, it would be a great way to see the southern alps and scenery in the middle of the island.

Lyttelton and Banks Peninsula

Lyttelton sits about 10 km to the southeast of Christchurch at the western edge of the Banks Peninsula.  It is  the closest port city to Christchurch for cargo and goods.  It is a quiet little village with gorgeous surroundings.  Lyttelton also suffered significant damage in the 2011 earthquake including damage to the port, infrastructure and historic buildings.

Village of Lyttelton

Village of Lyttelton

Village of Lyttelton

Village of Lyttelton

Lyttelton Harbor

There is a road called summit road that runs along the top of the ridge line through the Banks Peninsula.  It offers gorgeous views of Lyttelton Harbor and surrounding bays and also leads to Akaroa a lovely little tourist town at the southern edge of the Banks Peninsula.

Newton's Falls in Akaroa

Newton's Falls in Akaroa

Newton's Falls in Akaroa

We spent a couple of days exploring the town of Akaroa and the waters of its harbor in search for wildlife, specifically for Hector's Dolphins.  They are the smallest of all dolphin species and live exclusively in the waters surrounding New Zealand.  The adult Hector dolphin is only 1.2 meters long.  There is a tour company in Akaroa that take people out on boats and let them get in the water with these dolphins.  They are completely wild and the tour company does nothing to entice or train the dolphins to come to interact with them.   We booked a trip on one of the days were in Christchurch, but it was a 90 minute drive to Akaroa, so we chose an midday swim tour.  When we arrived, we were told that the morning trip saw no dolphins, so they were canceling the afternoon swim trip, so we rescheduled this for a day a little later in the week.  However, because they felt bad that we had driven all that way and would have to do it a second time, they told us we could hop on their harbor tour boat going out in an hour.  So we decided to do just that.   The harbor tour was fun and we actually got to see quite a bit of wildlife.

We were able to see a couple of small pods of Hector's Dolphins, complete with a mom and baby.

Hector's Dolphin mom and baby

Hector's Dolphin mom and baby

Hector's Dolphin mom and baby

Hector's Dolphin mom and baby

Hector's Dolphin mom and baby

Hector's Dolphin mom and baby

 

Hector's Dolphin mom and baby

Hector's Dolphin mom and baby

Hector's Dolphin mom and baby

Hector's Dolphin mom and baby

We also saw several fur seals sunning themselves on the rocks.

One of the days in Christchurch we took a drive to do a hike called Waipara River Fossils.  This took us once again on to privately owned property where the owner allows visitors to walk the riverbed which has a couple of very unique findings.  

Cliff face with exposed K-Pg boundary

This cliff face shows one of the few places in the world where the K-Pg boundary is exposed.  The K-Pg boundary is the layer of rock which contains the meteorite mineral iridium and is considered to be the boundary between the Cretaceous and Paleogene Periods.  Below this line, dinosaur fossils can be seen, however, above it no dinosaur fossils have been found.  This has led scientists to hypothesize that a meteorite containing cosmic dust, including iridium, striking the earth was the event that killed the dinosaurs. 

Cliff face with exposed K-Pg boundary

Also found just downstream from this region one can also see rounded chunks of rock called concretions like the moeraki boulders we saw at Moeraki Beach.  Many of these concretions can be seen both in the cliff face, as well as, scattered along the riverbank and in the river proper.

Rounded concretion in the river

Concretion sticking out of the cliff face

Rounded concretion in the river

Concretion sticking out of the cliff face

Rounded concretion in the river

Moss growing in cracks on one of the river concretions

This is a picture of the unique topography around the river

The last photo is of course of a waterfall, this one was impressive, however, there was just no way to get close to it to get better photos.

Glentui Falls

Things in Christchurch and the surrounding area that we enjoyed most and would do again:

1.  Quake City Museum 

2.  Views from Summit Road

3.  Akaroa Black Cat Harbor Cruise

4.  Tranz Alpine Scenic Train

As I started to put together my next blog post from Norway, I realized that I never published the blogs from Christchurch and Kaikoura from the New Zealand trip.  So I hope you enjoy these two posts.  

Coming Soon:

Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Why did we travel here in the winter? 

To see Northern Lights.  Check back soon to find out if we saw any!