So this is not actually Christchurch. These are adventures from our weekend trips and little excursions while living in Christchurch.
The city center is really neat and at night it's quite lovely. It's an octagon and it's called... "The Octagon."
Their churches are stunning. Well, the architecture here is all amazing.
The train station from the side. I know, I know, it's an odd choice, but I can't find my photo of the front of it.
I still don't know if Australia or New Zealand is the land of "the long white cloud." I've heard that phrase reference both, but I know for a fact that NZ has some epic cloud coverage. Must be trying to make up for the lack of ozone layer or something.
Just a couple of fuzzy weirdos goofing around in one of worst museums we found in New Zealand.
Harrington Point , Otago Peninsula, outside of Dunedin.
Even in the dreadful wind and driving sideways rain this place was stunning.
Our drive turned into a true winter wonderland.
Larnach Castle and Gardens gets its first snow of the season. This is the only castle in NZ.
Alex, a man of Texas, doesn't get snow often and reveled in the experience. It made this South Dakota girl a little homesick.
Various angles from inside the castle.
My favorite New Zealand bird is a Tui. This was my first ever sighting. He's a little windblown but his call was still on point and he still had full control of his little cotton ball feathers at his breast.
Just outside of Dunedin is a stunning hike called Tunnel Beach. It's a long, steep walk down to the entrance which gives you plenty of time to enjoy the views.
The history of Tunnel Beach says that a man in the 1800s lost his daughter to a rip tide during a family outing. To channel his grief he carved out a tunnel from this cliff to the beach below. You can see the individual chisel marks here.
These rocks and bluffs are huge. You'll note that Alexander is in there. For scale he's 6'5. This was a fun little playground for me. I'm part goat.
New Zealand is the holy grail if you're chasing waterfalls, not sticking to the rivers and lakes that you're used to. (Had to.)
On our way home from our Dunedin trip, we stopped at the Moeraki Boulders. If you think they look like dragon eggs, I concur. If you don't, then we'll have to agree to disagree.
And a dragon emerged! Scouts honor! I totally saw it happen.
Look at those teeth! They're just so gosh darned straight! Umm... yeah, we spend a lot of time goofing around.
Mount Sunday is one of Alexander's very favorite places so we went there as often as we could. You'll probably see more photos of this place as I add travel pages.
On the road to Edoras! For the non- nerds, Edoras is the capital city of Rohan in the Lord of the Rings. Still not ringing a bell? The horse lords and the creepy looking king and his advisory Wormtongue are of Rohan.
In the land of Edoras!
While Mount Sunday is notable because of it's use in LOTR, it has it's own history. Supposedly, shepherds from surrounding areas would meet here once a week. After all that time spent alone, it was nice to have a gathering to look forward to.
It's more of hill in comparison to the surrounding mountains. Don't let that fool you. It's a serious climb.
But the views from the top are amazing!
Mount Sunday is to the left and not fully pictured.
Very, very steep.
We could just camp out here forever. We often stay for hours when we're here. And go home with sunburns.
These are my favorite photos for two reasons, first, it's the best view. And second, as seen best in this photo, the sky seems as big here as it does on the Great Plains.
This is his happy place.
There was a rock. It needed to be climbed upon.
See?!