#162 Nomad Diary. 25 Nov-1 Dec 2023. Fairlie, New Zealand Opihi Gorge Hike/Tramp. Drive Fairlie to Christchurch 2 hours 20 mins/183 km. Week Plus in Christchurch. Begin House Sit.
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| Begin the Opihi Gorge Hike/Tramp Track |
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| Fairlie Op Shop/Thrift Store Saturday. 25. Opihi Gorge Hike near Fairlie. Our third night at our Fairlie airbnb tonight. The sky is blue and the sun is bright. We decide to take a gorge hike which here is called a tramp track (hiking trail). It is a beautiful day and a beautiful small gorge. There are spring flowers in bloom. Some tiny butterflies are at a high place in the gorge, but I couldn’t capture their picture. The interesting features of this walk are: the rocky small river with clear water and some rapids creating pleasing background sound along with tweeting birds; the yellow flowers and daisies smelling wonderful; the foot bridges to cross, one of which is high over the river; the giant log jam we viewed from the high foot bridge; and a metal ladder going straight up on the other side of the high footbridge. We walked as far as we could on the trail, crossing the gorge footbridge, climbing the ladder and then up a short way on the mountain trail until it was too muddy and difficult to be enjoyable. I was tired and turned back to return to our car and before I climbed back down the ladder Darrell turned and was back following me. We returned to our car and went to the small town of Fairlie and had lunch. We drove on a scenic drive going through flat farmland for a while with the distant mountain ranges in view. We then went back to our place, rested and cooked dinner in and got a great night’s sleep. |
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| Having Lunch Together After Sunday Worship. Darrell, Marjo, Paul (a Texan on vacation from his Cambodia retirement teaching job!), Grant and Chrissy. |
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| Overlook of Christchurch |
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| A Picture from 1924 of Chrissy's Grandmother Isabella holding Chrissy's mom Isabelle at Owaka beach in Southern South Island, NZ |
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| Another Crafty Project of Chrissy's. Redone Greeting Cards of Which She Shared with Me Several at my Request. Sunday. 26. We got up about 5:30 am well rested after our 3rd night in our Fairlie airbnb. We do our exercise, get breakfast, clean up, pack up and are on the road to Christchurch by 7:30 am. We arrive about 9:30 am to Sydenham Community Center where the church of Christ meets at 10 am. This is our second time to meet with them and they are expecting us. They have planned a pot-luck lunch after we finish with our worship time. Another visitor arrives who is here on his vacation for 10 days. He is traveling by bus and train on his way to see some of New Zealand for his first time. Paul flew in from Cambodia where he works as an English teacher and helps encourage the church and new christians there since he retired in 2016 in Texas. Grant, the regular preacher here taught Bible class, Darrell preached and led singing, and Paul filled in prayers and a message at the Lord’s Supper. After our lunch together, Grant and Chrissy went with us up to the high look out point above Christchurch. We took a few pictures then drove down the mountain and to their house for coffee and conversation. We talked the afternoon away and then we were invited to stay for a dinner of eggs and toast. We visited a little more then went to check into our airbnb about 15 minutes drive. |
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| Reminder of Christmas Coming. A German Woman Runs This Cafe. |
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| Fancy Fruit Plate Monday. 27. We woke up about 5:30 am in our Christchurch airbnb. We slept well in this quiet neighborhood encircled by the Heathcote River. Our place is small and we are just able to do our morning exercises in the floorspace. We use the provided single burner and toaster oven to cook eggs and toast. They also have a one cup “plunger” coffee maker. We call it a french press to make coffee 3x. During breakfast we have a video call with our son Jeremy and 3 year old grandson Quinn. It is Sunday and lunch time in Washington, D.C. where they are currently living. Quinn has found that he really enjoys playing at the playground outside their apartment building. Jeremy said it has a ropes course suitable for an 8 year old, but Quinn keeps working on it every day and getting better and farther. Andrea has been sick for a couple of weeks and hopefully is on the mend and getting stronger. At noon we went to Annette, Chris and Wilbur the cat’s house about 10 minutes away. We got the tour and instructions for our house sit beginning tomorrow. We didn’t meet Wilbur yet as he was out exploring. We went out for lunch and then came back to our place and took a nap. It’s slightly cool today and the sunshine is bright with clear skies. Tuesday. 28. We moved from our Christchurch airbnb (2 nights) into our 8 night house sit. The house is large and comfortable. We went grocery shopping and plan to cook meals in contrast to eating out so often on this road trip. Wilbur the cat easily accepted us in his house and we are following his routine. He has a chip in him that gives him access to his special cat door in and out of the house. At bedtime we lock his door so he can’t go out all night. He also is restricted to the kitchen and living rooms of the house, and we get to sleep quietly down a long hall of bedrooms and bathrooms. Wednesday. 29. Marjo (Mario) is a woman I met at church for the last two Sundays. Today she came and got me and took me to Brighton Beach about 20 minutes from our house. We talked about our lives, and we walked the dune for a while. We had cappuccinos and enjoyed our time together. She came here from Holland over 40 years ago with her husband Martin and 3 small children. Neither of them spoke English. Now her children all live close by and are married with children. She and Martin are retired and she still works a couple nights a week at a nursing home where she has worked for 40 years. She was one of 11 children and her husband one of 9 children. She said that they came from large catholic families. Marjo began to study the Bible with a friend and realized that the pope was just a man and she couldn’t be catholic anymore. It upset her mother who said once you are a catholic, then you are always a catholic. Meanwhile she followed her faith and landed into the church of Christ with acapella singing, immersion baptism, Sunday communion, and study of the Bible as a guide for living for Jesus. Her husband and her children didn’t stay catholic and they didn’t follow her either. |
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| We Drove Up a Mountain from Akaroa to Get to A Lighthouse Point on the Coast. We Turned Around Here. The Road Sign Advised 4 Wheel Drive. We Got This Beautiful View on a Cloudy Day. |
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| Downtown Christchurch Mural |
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| Another Smile Enhancer Video Call with Grandson Owen (age 2) and Son Eric |
Thursday. 30. Drove to Akarora about an hour south of Christchurch. A French settlement was there in the 1800’s and influenced the town. It’s now a fishing village with some touristy shops, restaurants and sight-seeing. There is a drive over a mountain to get into the valley around the water inlet with small towns to drive through around the inlet until you get to Akarora. We arrived about 11a.m. and easily found free parking. We followed a sign to the public restrooms, and after that stop we walked the main street to see what’s here for lunch. We checked google for open restaurants. Usually lunch begins at noon, but there are some opening at 11 for lunch here. There are a few people having coffee at a shop. I see a couple of restaurants with closed for today signs on the gates. There is a large decorative war memorial with manicured roses surrounding it. There are some sculptures and decorative and restored victorian era houses. The smell of spring flowers especially roses in full bloom are in the air. It’s a cool day with some clouds and blue sky trying to come through. At the end of a couple of blocks of shops the beach walk begins. It is sided by the small two lane road and leads to some more shops and restaurants ahead. We walk on around the beach and the bay to the next business area fronting the water. We look at each menu posted outside of the restaurants that are opening now. We walk on until we are at the boat tour pier and we walk to the end of the pier. We pass a jewelry shop selling nice items with the one of a kind local pearls. There are several tourists shopping there. We look at the window displays and prices. Very nice with prices we saw of NZ$’s 1800 for a necklace of interesting natural pearls. That’s $1100 in US$’s
Friday. 1. Cooked breakfast at our house sit house. Called Darrell’s mom. Went downtown Christchurch to a bakery I wanted to get sourdough at. Turns out it was a stand in a foodie market place. I got my bread, but we had to find a coffee house to sit and have coffee. We walked around looking at some craft booths and architecture, then drove back toward our place. We stopped at a ‘pie’ bakery for a meat pie for our lunch. It was our third meat pie in New Zealand. So far the Fairlie Salmon and Bacon Pie is by far my favorite, and Darrell is remembering a steak and mushroom pie as his favorite so far! With our current pie experience we are now much more discerning! Lol! There are pies everywhere we look. I’m so full feeling from this recent one, I can’t think of attempting another one until I’m super hungry and it promises to be super delicious! Lol! We came back to our house. I’ve done laundry and put it out on the clothes line, played with the cat, and now working on the computer. I picked a zucchini and lettuce leaves from the garden here. We will likely have salad for dinner.
Nomad Notes. We really need down time when we are not just touring and looking. This house sit is such a comfort for us. We knew that our South Island, New Zealand road trip was ambitious. It is going well and we are learning so much as we go. I have a list of things to do here during these days at the house sit. I have this catching up on my diary/blog. We have online christmas shopping to do, rest up for leaving next Wednesday for our Southern South Island touring, take care of this cat and house and clean it up and leave it sparkling for the owners return. Keep eating well, exercising and connecting spiritually through personal prayer, Bible reading, singing, friendships and worship times with others. I’m so grateful for this all.
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