As we drive thought Arthur's Pass National Park I knew we were going to be camping somewhere pretty nice that evening as the scenery was so green and lush. As we pulled into Jackson we spotted the campsite we were heading for and immediately fell in love with it. It was so beautiful and peaceful.
We set up and hiked to a waterfall. The water was gorgeous, fresh and super cold. We drank from it.
That evening we treated ourselves to a night out and went to the pub in the village where I had a nice piece of white fish topped with prawns and Nathan had a beef hot pot. The Sav blanc was so refreshing and crisp. I've definitely enjoyed my white wine while in New Zealand (and Australia).
Once it was dark we went on a walk into the bush to find the glow worms. I had my head torch on and when we arrived at the correct spot we turned out the light and were blown away by the hundreds of tiny little lights shining back at us from the little glow worms, it was gorgeous to see.
The next day we headed to Christchurch. We spent one night on a campsite and cooked a pretty decent camp dinner on the BBQ.
The next morning we packed up camp and went to Riccaton House for a morning cuppa and then checked into our Airbnb. We booked ourselves 2 nights airbnb when we ordered our cricket tickets. It was lovely, I would probably go as far as to say its the best airbnb we have ever stayed in, but then again I don't know if we are biased after camping for 3 nights. We went out for a few drinks in the evening.
On Monday we headed to the cricket at Hagley Oval.
It was such a beautiful ground and the sun came out and it was a glorious day.
Emma a girl from my form class at school was working at the venue and came over to find us. It was lovely chatting to her and hearing about everything she has been up to.
One of my favourite moments was when one of the guys sitting near us on the grass got totally naked and run onto the pitch and right across the green and managed to jump over the barrier and made it all the way out of the park before being caught.
England beat Scotland so it was a great day!
On the way home from the cricket we walked through Christchurch. It is hard to describe the city, it is still so evident that an Earthquake destroyed everything 4 years ago. Nearly all the buildings fell in the earthquake or the foundations were so badly damaged that they had to be pulled down. This is what the cathedral currently looks like.
After the earthquake the quickest way to get shops, restaurants and cages up and running was to use shipping containers. Like these.
We went to one called Thai container for our dinner that night. The food was delicious and got me really excited about our next countries after New Zealand.
On Tuesday morning we headed 90km to Hanmer Springs. We stopped at Pegasus Bay winery on route.
The campsite at Hanmer Springs was lovely and after pitching our tent we headed into the town where we went to the hot springs. This pool complex reminded me a little of centre parks, there were lots of rock pools, jacuzzi, a lazy river and a full size lap pool. We had a great afternoon.