Today we left Dunedin to drive north along the South Pacific Coast to Christchurch. Once the car was packed, we walked around the corner of our hotel to Speight’s Brewery – the Pride of the South – no, not for a morning beer but to fill our water bottles! Speight’s Brewery water source is a natural spring. When permission was given to tap the spring in 1876, the agreement was to make the water available to the town. That agreement is still honoured. Daily people refill containers at the sidewalk spigot. During our stay we developed the habit of filling our travelling containers, to get non-chlorinated water. Boy, did that water taste fresh and cool!
The drive to Christchurch is a 4-5 hour drive without stops. We agreed we would stop at least 3 times & our lodging place in CC was expecting us around 6pm. The 3 stops were Shag Point to look for sea life; Moeraki to see the beach ‘Boulders’ and Oamaru for cheese factory & lunch! From there it would take 2.5 hrs to CC. Tom spotted a road sign for a cheese factory & spur of the moment we thought we had arrived at Oamaru! The shop was closed but before we had time to leave; this man was opening the door to greet us! Hence we met Colin! Low & behold Liz & Helen had bought cheese from Colin at the Farmer’s Market on Saturday in Dunedin. Over the course of the next few minutes of conversation, Colin mentioned today was his birthday as well as his son Paul. What a surprise – spontaneous hugs when I told him it was my birthday as well! What a hoot! These are the first individuals I’ve met born on Feb 1. It turned out we were in Waikouaiti and not Oamaru; coincidence – I think not! It truly started my day off right; check out Colin & his sons’ cheese factory at www.evansdalecheese.co.nz. The picture attached is the 3 Feb-1 birthday babies!
As it happens, Colin had a Canadian connection, having almost purchased a cheese factory in Gatineau. We had a few good laughs, a few great stories & a lot of exceptionally good-tasting samples. Apparently Colin named his cheeses after the women in his life; Ruby Red was named after his mom, he didn’t say who Marilyn Blue was but did say he has now uses dog names! A story there for sure! Thanks for the birthday gift of cheeses Colin, very pleased to have met you and Paul and looking forward to when our paths cross again. Paul took the time to confirm we should stop at the 2 nature sites but the drive through the mountains from Geraldine was more scenic than sticking to HWY 1.
We drove away waving until we were out of sight – a bright step to our walk & a smile on our faces. Further north on Hwy 1, we stopped at Shag Point to view the seals, sea lions and perhaps, but not sure, a rare yellow-eyed penguin. This reminds me of NL and/or PEI; wind-swept, high, rugged terrain over-looking the ocean. We did manage to see a few seals and lions but not sure if the spec we saw was a yellow-eyed penguin or not! We chatted to a few folks snorkelling and they pointed out a few more large sea lions and 2 penguins. Was it windy! Do you know the line ... ‘have you been to sea when the sea is blue and the sky is too ...blah .. blah.. foam sweeping the deck’ ... well it was that type of day!
Next stop Moeraki Boulders! This little fishing village has become famous for this geological wonder on its windswept sands. The Moeraki Boulders are large egg-shaped, patterned rocks scattered over a small area & positioned in a line heading out to sea. These are no ordinary round rocks; ‘septarian’ creations formed from ancient sea floor sediments; and created similar to formation of oyster pearls. (Pamphlet) For the boulders, it was a fossil shell, bone fragment, or piece of wood. Lime minerals in the sea accumulated on the core over time, and the concretion grew into perfectly spherical shapes up to 3M in diameter. It was about a 10 minute walk to reach the boulders on the beach, well worth it! Some of the boulders have now split into pieces, displaying the jewellery quality stones and colours inside. One was cracked like an egg; a man stood inside to have his picture taken & gave a reference to the size. I have some interesting pictures to share later. I couldn’t resist pocketing a few small pieces of shell & pebbles before I left the beach on my return to the car. (No, I didn’t take a piece of the Boulders – too large!)
Too windy to eat our picnic here; we drove to Oamaru and picnicked at the public gardens. An hour’s break to appreciate the flowers; bright, big and beautiful flowers are everywhere; attended with care and lots of it to keep it looking like it is! Impressive! Our drive passed fields and fields of lavender; bright purple fields among the strawberry blond barley fields – combined with herds of Holsteins, Angus & sheep! As far as the eye could see were prosperous looking farms with all manner of irrigation systems in operation! We are now 250K from Christchurch and driving under a rainbow of colour from the spray.
Another unique thing they do here is the use of hedges for windbreakers! Hedges are 20 feet high 2 metres wide; rows several hundred metres long, angled to optimize benefit. These hedges are used all over this area of the South Island. The windy conditions we’ve experienced and this is summer – we can only imagine how desperately they need these windbreakers. White caps on the ocean & grand scale farms ... otherwise you could class this section of the road as boring! Late afternoon and a desired to reach CC changed our minds about taking the scenic route via Geraldine.
Our motel in the Brighton Beach area of Christchurch is an ocean-side motel, near the pier and surfer school. The strong, cool wind doesn’t seem to deter the many fishermen and the occasional surfer. Looking out from our balcony we could be absolutely anywhere in the world where you have a view of rolling white capped waves and miles of grey fine sandy beach! From the road you climb over a wooden stair to get over the sand dunes to reach the beach. Marvellous – what a way to bring in the next decade of my life surrounded with love and new experiences. Thank you family & friends for all your birthday wishes – while we are hemispheres apart you are only a heartbeat away (isn’t that how the song goes!)
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