Ok Akora, Timaru, Omaru, and Moeraki

We left Christchurch the other morning... well, weeks ago now... and drove through Lyttelton on the way to Akora. Lyttelton is a small port just the other side of the mountain to the south and east of Christchurch. You literally drive through the mountain to get there. As we exited the tunnel it looked like there was an apartment building right at the end, only to see it was a gigantic cruise ship blocking out the horizon. We stopped at a view point where an old mariners time ball station stood, it was destroyed in the 2011 earthquake. A time ball station is very much like the ball they drop at new years in New York city. It signaled to all the ships in harbor the exact time of 1:00pm as the ~4ft diameter black ball hit the deck once dropped. Knowing the time precisely helped ships better determine their location out at sea. We grabbed some lunch and walked around town a little then back in the car.

View of Lyttelton from base of time ball station.

 Akora is a bit out of the way. It's a little town sitting right in the middle of an enormous but dormant volcano. One of the walls of the cinder cone that makes the volcano is missing, either eroded away or more likely blasted away during the last eruption. So the center out to the edge filled with water as it is open to the sea. Over the two days we spent there I thought a lot about how strange it was that an entire town now sits right in the middle of what must have been a massive and violent series of events. It was a little unsettling.

Enough deep thinking. The first thing we did on arrival was of course a few rounds of mini-golf on a steampunk themed course. Zane had a great time and used good patience waiting for the people in front of him. Nicole and Zane also did a little roller coaster VR.  We checked in to our hotel and everyone needed some "me" time so I went for a run and meet a new friend at the top to the hill.

View looking back to Akora from next to the Rhino

The next day was Christmas Eve and Nicole booked us a boat tour around the bay to see dolphins. It was a really nice day, the water was flat and we saw a bunch of the local dolphins. They are called Hector's dolphins and are much smaller and rounder that the typical dolphin. The calf's were described to us as little round white and gray things about the size of a rugby ball with little flippers. You could hear the whole boat go "Awwwwww...". As we neared open water the captain took us into a little cove where we saw a few seals and their pups, again "Awwwwww...". On the way back the captain had some fun and let Zane drive. Mind you it wasn't a small boat but he handled it like a pro.

Zane and Nicole were getting tired of the local cuisine, i.e. there's not much sushi. So for dinner we picked up some pork chops and spiced 'em up with Tajin along with a side of garlic bread, Z's other favorite. Christmas morning Santa left Zane something he couldn't believe Santa remembered, a little candle powered fan he spoke about weeks ago. That was fun to find. Nicole posted it to the New Zealand Travel Tips facebook group to get help finding it.  He also unwrapped a little Minecraft Lego set from Nicole and I. He was a happy kid and we had a nice relaxing morning putting things together. But then back in the car before lunch to head south down the east coast.

Our next lodging was the town of Oamaru. On the way we stopped at a wonderful park/playground to have Christmas lunch at in Timaru to break up the ~3hr drive. It was a nice port town and wish we could have stayed longer to explore but we had to check into our hotel.

Omaru, was a cool little town that had the most fabulous steampunk museum and Victorian style buildings downtown and playground. Most things were closed though and we didn't see any blue penguins as we didn't want to stay up until sunset which was 9:30pm! Strange being this far from the Equator.

What I'd drive in the next Mad Max movie.

Zane's "thinking" room

It was so bright out it hurt to smile!

Mr. Frump Face didn't like leaving the playground.

We also had a very nice time at the Omaru Botanical Garden. There was a playground where Zane met a few locals.  One of the dads was a logger which is a huge industry for New Zealand - we were stuck behind several HUGE trucks full of logs throughout our drives.

Next, we went down the coast a little more to Moeraki, and stayed in a gorgeous 3 bedroom home (map) perched atop a hill with beautiful ocean views. All three rooms had floor to ceiling windows. The cove right below us contained a very small fishing village.  Even though it was cold and windy out, it was a perfect place to relax and enjoy some downtime.  One day we went to look for penguins, then Zane decided to run up the hillside at the point and found seals, but no penguins (skunked again).  The next day we went to visit the 'boulders' on the beach. As we walked down the beach from where we parked to view the almost perfectly spherical giant boulders, we began seeing more and more people as we went. "Wow" we thought, these must be some really cool rocks! When we got there only a few of the tops of the rocks were uncovered with sand, years of erosion have apparently covered them. So it turned out to be a flop but we had a great time looking at driftwood, other smaller rocks and some shells. We did have a great lunch at the cafe overlooking the sea that bright and sunny day.

Mom did not win.

Dance party in the chilly wind at the top.

Not quite as cool as Joshua Tree.

Zane was protecting a lady bug in the sand.