New Zealand Holiday - Hanmer Springs, Christchurch and Singapore 10th to 17th April

  Canterbury Tales - Hanmer Springs and Christchurch.

Canterbury in Autumn

Heading South from Kaikoura we made a right turn off Highway One and headed west towards the holiday resort of Hanmer Springs. It was a good road, not too busy, just local traffic. Canterbury definitely had its Autumn coat on for us. Lots of trees adorned with colourful leaves.

Looking down on Waiau

We were not too impressed with our coffee stop in Waiau. We were the only patrons at the Brenda’s on Lyndon Cafe and it was like sitting in a garage. We were glad to get back in the car. It's easy to criticise I suppose. The area was heavily impacted by the Kaikoura earthquake and, as passing tourists, we don't how difficult life is for them now.  




Hanmer Springs 

Hanmer is a mountain resort offering skiing in winter and various active holiday activities in summer. It's renowned for its thermal pools and a large spa area, which we decided to skip. 

We were fortunate with the weather; it remained dry, allowing us to enjoy a delightful walk to the Conical Hill Lookout. From there, we took a circular route back to the town. The town itself is quite smart with tree lined streets and grass verges.

Walking in Hanmer Springs




Conical Hill

A lovely coffee stop
Our final destination was Christchurch. It was an easy drive through attractive country. Our faith in NZ roadside Coffee stops was fully restored at the Red Post Cafe in Culverden. We like friendly and quirky cafes.

Christchurch 
Our flight home was from Ch-Ch. We opted to stay in the City for a couple of nights.
We spent most of our time in the beautiful gardens. The once sedate City of Christchurch has changed immeasurably. The earthquake ruined Cathedral is still a work in progress and an extremely loud concert was underway in Cathedral Square. Fortunately the Botanic Gardens were unchanged so we spent most of our time there and in Hagley Park. Although we did make an enjoyable excursion to the Christchurch Gondola.

















King Charles Tree

Togs must be worn?



Christchurch Gondola

There were great views to be had from the top of the Christchurch Gondola. The Gondola is about a twenty minute drive from Christchurch. At the top station there is a Restaurant and a viewing platform from where you can set off on a selection of walks. There's a great view of Lyttleton Harbour and Akaroa from up there. It wasn't cheap to go up at $42 each.

Looking down on Lyttelton Harbour
Looking up the coast towards Kaikoura

Oh well, time to return the little car that had taken us from Queenstown all the way to Picton and back to Christchurch. We had turned our noses up at the battered little Toyota when we picked it up but it did us proud. The drop off at Omega was straightforward and we found our way to Singapore Airlines check-in. They accepted our bags ok, we've flown too often with budget airlines and are paranoid about suitcase weights and measures. No problem today though as we were in Business, they welcomed our bags and we headed for the Lounge.

Singapore

For us, Singapore was simply a stop on the journey home. We had two nights at the Orchard by Rendezvous. It was ok. The room was fine but our view was a tarpaulin-like cover for a building project - wonderful.

We were pretty tired so not keen to do our normal level of walking. So, on our day in Singapore, we took a walk down Orchard Road and then took a Taxi to the Singapore Sands Hotel. We knew the Bay Gardens would keep us amused for much of the day and the Sands Hotel would be worth a look-see.


Up on the Roof


Open wide







Location: Christchurch, New Zealand

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