Driving to Christchurch December 19, 1999
Rushed
south to Christchurch to settle-in for 7 weeks. We needed to rush;
we'd been warned: everything comes to a standstill between
Christmas and New Years, and the week before, and the weeks after. It's
summer vacation, and like August in Europe, everyone disappears. The
rushing took us 5 driving days from Auckland (about 200 miles a day) and included a 2-hour
ferry crossing from the North to the South Island.
(Did you know there were two?)
We
luckily found a 2 bedroom, 2 bath furnished apartment in Christchurch City, just 4 blocks
from the town Center. It’s simply furnished, comes with dishwasher, microwave, washer and
drier, and costs US$ 180 a week. The gym, which
we've joined, is down the block; the squash courts are 3 blocks away -- I may
try my hand at this once-favorite game of mine; 
and we've become "summer
members" at one of the local golf courses, the McLeans Island Golf
Club. Cost? US$ 30 each to join for 10 weeks for unlimited
golf at a nice, but not fancy, 18-hole course.
As for weather, it IS
summer!
The days are long, the sun rises at 5:00 and sets well after 9:00. It was
a bit rainy on the North Island, but we usually got a nice half-day, so
enjoyed some of the beautiful scenery while driving south, such as these
photos. Of course there were plenty of
sheep. (There are about 10 for every Kiwi.) But there were also cows and deer on the
hillsides and seals in the ocean. (Check closely in the view at top
right.) Christchurch is drier than the North Island was, with daytime temps ranging from 70 to 90. This is wine growing country,
and some of it looks quite a bit like northern California. There are just
lots fewer people here.