Self Drive Tour of New Zealand, 2006

Unforgettable New Zealand
22 November - 13 December 2006

New Zealand will always remain as the most unforgettable trip in my life. It was after all my first experience planning and organising a self-drive tour. In spite of that, it was not difficult planning this trip because friends who had been there before us had provided me with most of the information I needed. And most importantly, I had a good map. (The one provided by YHA.)


Seven of us went on this trip and upon arrival, we hired two cars (Avis Car Rental) at Christchurch International Airport. We could not get a bigger vehicle that could accommodate all of us as we did not book earlier. Choon, Winnie, my sister and I took this Nissan Sunny, a white sedan...


while Yeap, May Lit and Ming Joo drove this grey Nissan Pulsar.

With the help of the city map, we could easily locate the Rolleston House, our YHA accommodation in Christchurch. We spent two nights here.

As this was our first time staying at a hostel, we needed some time to get used to sharing dorms with strangers. It was certainly awkward at first but eventually we got accustomed to it. Till today I still couldn't help chuckling to myself each time I remember how we had hung the blankets and towels all around the beds to give ourselves a little privacy!

The Botanic Gardens is located just across the road from the Rolleston House. So, after checking in, we went for a stroll at the park.

Christchurch's reputation as the Garden City is truly reflected in the Botanic Gardens. It has the finest collection of exotic and indigenous plants found in NZ.

I was greatly impressed by the majestic trees I saw there...




The park is really clean and well-kept. It is truly a sight for sore eyes.

Christchurch is an interesting city. One of the places you should not miss is the Cathedral Square, located in the heart of the city. Here, you can admire the historic architecture of the Christchurch Cathedral, an Anglican cathedral built in 1904. Next to it, you can see the Chalice, a sculpture with the design of leaves, which has been created to celebrate the new millennium and the 50th Anniversary of the foundation of Christchurch and Canterbury.

During weekends, the Cathedral Square is full of activity as the weekend market is held starting from Friday to Sunday. You can see stalls selling all kinds of things ranging from souvenirs, trinkets to clothes and foodstuff.

These are some of the souvenirs you can get at the stalls.




There is a giant chess set at the Cathedral Square where people can have a game of chess.


However, we never had a chance to lay hands on the chess set as there were always some people playing the game (not that we know the game at all).

It was Sunday when we were in Christchurch so the shops were closed. We just wandered about to see what was on sale at one of the shopping malls. It was only our first day, so it was still too early to shop.

Feeling tired after our window-shopping, we savoured delicious ice-cream near the fountain, enjoying the fresh air and sunlight.....

....and also admiring the beautiful tiles on this pyramidal structure.


This is a close-up picture of the colourful tiles depicting children's artistic creation.

Transport is not a problem in Christchurch as you have a choice of taking the historic tram ride on a loop circuit to see the best central city attractions, or making use of the free city shuttle or even going round on foot as many tourist attractions are within walking distance if you don't mind some exercise.

The following picture shows the heritage tram. It follows a 2.5 km loop around central Christchurch, stopping at the Cathedral Square, the Arts Centre, the Botanic Gardens, the Canterbury Museum, etc. It also passes in front of the Rolleston House YHA and there is a stop nearby so it is very convenient.

Being energetic and adventurous, we chose to walk (and also to save cost, after all we were budget travellers then). We took a stroll along the Cambridge Terrace which was along the Avon River.

The Oxford Terrace was at the opposite bank of the river. It was summer time when we were in NZ, so there were a lot of people sunbathing by the river bank. Yeap was busy taking pictures of the beautiful scenery.

This is a photograph of the Bridge of Remembrance taken from the bank of Avon River. Can you see my friends waving on the bridge?

This bridge has been constructed and dedicated to the soldiers who took part in the war 1914 - 1918 and also because all soldiers walked over this bridge when they left the war.

Across the Rolleston Avenue (where Rolleston House YHA is located) is the Canterbury Museum....

...and right in front of the YHA is the Art Museum. (See the following picture.)

Having a lot of time on our hands, we decided to take a scenic drive to Sumner, a coastal seaside village-like suburb of Christchurch.

We stopped by to see the Shag Rock....


...then we went to explore the Cave Rock as seen in the following picture.

Sitting on top of the Cave Rock, one can admire the beauty of the Sumner Beach which overlooks the Pegasus Bay.

There is a restaurant called Poseidon Restaurant Bar at the esplanade where you can enjoy a nice cup of coffee.



After the beach, we decided to take the route into the highlands so that we could get the bird's eye view of Christchurch.


The view from the highlands was indeed breathtaking. The wind was strong too, so it was rather cold.

Even the grass looked beautiful there as it gently swayed to the rhythm of the wind.

Returning to Christchurch after our trip to Sumner, we dropped by at Park'nSave to buy our groceries. The prices of things were quite reasonable here, good for budget travellers like us.

You know, the fun part of staying at the hostel was preparing our meals. At Rolleston House, the kitchen was spacious and and equipped with all kinds of utensils, cutlery, you name it. With Choon as our chief cook, we were guaranteed a healthy meal with lots of vegetables.

Even simple home-cooked meal seems scrumptious when you're in a foreign land. We relished all the food that was served hungrily.

After dinner, we decided to go for a walk to see the night view of Christchurch. As expected, the Cathedral Square was beautifully lit.

As we were walking back to the Rolleston House, we stopped by to admire a building which was artistically painted with a wall picture that looked so real. I told myself to return to this place the next morning to get a photo of it in the daylight.



This was how the wall appeared during the day. How I wish I could draw this on my walls back home.

Though I have never been to heaven before (hee...hee...) but I could imagine it would look like Lake Tekapo when the lupins are in full bloom. Surrounded by such wondrous beauty, I had this uncontrollable urge to sing aloud, "What a wonderful world....." Well, words can never describe this heavenly place, but I believe pictures can paint a thousand words. Look at the following pictures to see what I mean.

To be continued......























To be continued......