New Zealand Days 9-10 - Christchurch
So sad that it is our last day in Wanaka and that we will have to head up to the city today, ending the nature part of our New Zealand trip. We ate a breakfast of leftovers (pasta photo from above was from the night before) and said goodbye to our comfortable accomodations, heading out on the 5.5 hour drive back to Christchurch.
Since we were retracing our steps, there was nothing new in the scenery driving back up to Christchurch. However, we were still in awe of the views of Lake Pukaki, Mount Cook National Park, and Lake Tekapo. Lake Pukaki seemed more vibrant blue today than the other day (probably due to more sun today) so we couldn't help but stop there once again. We also stopped by Pak N'Save Hornby one last time before arriving at All Stars Inn in Christchurch. Although advertised as a hostel with hostel amenities, the rooms were spacious and resembled hotel rooms more than hostel rooms, which was nice.
Christchurch itself was a little disappointing. It lacked the vibrant, lively feel of a traditional city or the charm of a suburbian town. There wasn't really a good downtown area in which to walk, although there were shopping centers scattered throughout the residential areas. Since we skipped lunch, we headed out for an early dinner.
We wanted to try New Zealand seafood, since we heard that seafood is good in New Zealand. We selected a restaurant on the other side of the city called Fisherman's Wharf. As its name suggests, it overlooks views of a fisherman wharf, which we thought was promising in terms of seafood quality. We were excited to see that the seafood platters were very affordable, and were very surprised to see the generous portion sizes that were served. We ordered a dish consisting of seared seafood with a side of coconut flavored Jasmine rice, and another dish of spiced cod served with mango salsa and a side of sweet potato fries. It was quite a good value for the money, although we left feeling a little ill due to overeating.
To walk off our full bellies, we headed out to Christchurch's botanical garden. This is probaby the city's best gem, as it was not only free but also opened to the public until 9pm. We admired the plants and watched ducks for a bit, briefly forgetting that we were in a city for a moment.
We ended off the night with some boba tea at a restaurant called Pa Tea. When we stepped into the shop, we felt like we had stepped into a little 3 year old girl's dream princess room. Gaudy pink decor was everywhere, with heart-shaped chairs, pink cushion and gold framed couches, and flowers/balloons/bears serving as additional decor. The bathroom was lighted with pink neon lights and pink lighted phrases as if we were in a girly night club. We couldn't enjoy our drinks in that decor, so we ordered and brought the drinks back to the hostel. Our drinks were a little pricey compared to in the US, but it was nice to see that Christchurch had so many asian food options like the rest of New Zealand.
The next morning, we finished our remaining leftover food for breakfast and headed out to a nearby shopping mall to spend the rest of our remaining cash. It was then time to the airport, where we are currently waiting for our flight back to Los Angeles. Even though we ended up changing itineraries and sadly cutting out over 1/3 of the things that we wanted to experience during this trip, it was still a really nice first visit to New Zealand. And Michael did an excellent job of driving us safely over 1150 miles on the left hand side of the road! See you back in the states!














