After resting and recuperating in Christchurch for a bit, it was time for another adventure. After some deliberation, we decided to “take it easy” and just go for a walk… THROUGH A CAVE! Yep, about an hour’s drive from Christchurch is the Cave Stream, one of New Zealand’s best kept secrets – if only because it is nigh impossible to reach if you do not have your own transportation. It’s a 600-meter walk upstream, through a limestone cave, in water that goes from knee-deep to waist-deep (and is not too cold, if you’re lucky), and it’s AWESOME in the most literal sense of the word. Bonus: in Europe, there would inevitably be a ticket booth, guided tours, all kinds of health and safety measures, and possibly a souvenir shop. Here, all we got was a sign telling us to wear proper clothing, bring a flashlight, and godspeed. So in we went, and good times were had.
Seeing as it is kind of hard to convey how cool the whole experiene was, I’m just gonna skip right to the pictures instead, as they sort of tell their own story (even though it’s hard to take pics in pitch black conditions)…
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20
March
Christchurch, as it turns out, is a very nice city, with a nice, small city center and enough to do to keep anyone occupied for at least a couple of days. Thus, I had originally planned on writing a sort of comprehensive travel guide for the entire city, but while writing my review of the Canterbury Museum, I got a bit carried away – so instead of getting my take on the town, here is a review of JUST the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch, because I felt like writing one… apparently. There’s a bit on the Antarctic Centre at the end though, so feel free to skip most of this article if you were planning on going there and skipping the museum!
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20
March
I finally, FINALLY got around to selecting, resizing and enhancing some pictures I took during the tarp of the trip that I have already written about (8-13 February)(click on “New Zealand” for more info). Enjoy!!
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19
March
Had I been writing this here update on the day I should have written it, I would undoubtedly have named it after a well-known internet phenomenon featuring islands and boats. By now, I know better, and I’m saving that one for later. With that being said, today WAS another adventure, even though one would have expected it to be relatively normal.
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18
March
I found a recipe involving chicken and bananas on the infamous BBC Recipe Website, and decided to tinker with it. The end result was, surprisingly enough, quite edible, so I just wrote it down and put it online, cause that’s how I roll…
For the records, it’s not haute cuisine, but rather just some easy-to-prepare comfort food that, for once, does not involve tomato sauce.
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17
March
I really, really should update this blog more often! Forgive me for I have sinned, it’s been a week since my last update and all that… but there’s SO much to do here!! Well, I guess I’ll just have to dig deep into my memory banks and see what I can come up with. Accuracy is not guaranteed, but excitement is, as we cycle up the Old Coach Road, and wander across Ohakune some more.
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16
March