Adventures of NaDave: NaDave Aussie: NZ 1 & 2 (April 1-8)

After wishing Dave's parents a safe trip back to the States on Sunday (3/29) evening, NaDave had 3 days to get fully ready for their biggest trip while in Australia...a 7-day driving/camping/hiking trip around the southern half of New Zealand's South Island! This will be our last major trip while Down Under, and with 3 days off for Easter Break, we took full advantage!

Wed April 1 (Fly out!)

We booked a red-eye flight that left Wed at 1130pm Melbourne time & (was supposed to) arrive into Christchurch 5am on Thurs. We wanted to work a full day on Wed, then land in NZ early on Thurs morning, to help us get a full day on Thurs in NZ. (This flight also helped us save some money).

NaDave met at the Melbourne airport ~9pm, Nadine took the bus while Dave got a ride from his housemate. The line for International flights was, as Nadine said, "the longest line at the airport I've ever seen". It was all the Easter Holiday travelers!...but luckily we got there early enough so we did not stress. We got settled in easily to our seats & each fell asleep as the plane took off on time...we would wake up in NZ!

Thurs April 2 (Christchurch)

Well, mid-way through the flight (~3am) the captain came on to tell us the Christchurch airport was closed due to Fog. And we were being re-directed to Auckland. So while we, in fact, landed in NZ at 5am, we were stranded on the North Island! We stayed in the plane on the tarmac for 3 hrs, then finally took off for Christchurch. We landed ~10am, and by the time we got our rental car it was after 11am. We were finally there...after 8+ hrs in a plane (yuck!)

We originally had plans to drive out to the Banks Peninsula along the East Coast to watch the sunrise for our first morning in NZ, but instead our day had been truncated. Rather we drove straight into town, got a SIM card for Nadine's phone, and then picked up groceries (& wine!). Since Dave hadn't eaten since Melbourne, he was a little loopy, and was kindly informed by a store clerk that eating from the bulk foods is stealing (oops!).

We headed to the Botanical Gardens for a quick picnic lunch & walkabout. We then had about 3-4 hrs to see the city. As advertised, the city is still rebuidling from the devastation of the 2011 earthquakes. NaDave visited the Quake City Museum, and loved it! We saw raw footage from the quakes & learned more about it all. We then skipped around to the main spots in town...the Cardboard Cathedral, RE-start mall, 183 chairs memorial & still-to-be-repaired Christ Church (for which the city was named).

On the way out of town, we stopped at a local pub, and had a few local brews. But we couldn't stay long as we needed to get some miles behind us....it was 4 hrs to our Friday destination...hiking the Hooker Valley trail in the shadow of NZ's highest mountain (Mt Cook). We were able to drive for 2 hrs, then we found a 'freedom campground' along the side of road. We setup camp, and then looked up at the stars....we were in New Zealand!