Me on an old bike in the Christchurh Museum. it said children need accompanied by an adult but it didn't say any thing for adults so of course I had to try and then have some random stranger take my picture. I could hardly reach the peddles, people must have been tall back then or maybe I am just short....
Darren's family whanau (homestead)
Darren, a Maori friend, who enjoyed teaching what he called 'Maori 101'. This was an old Mauri Pa (village) that he showed me around.
Seals by Kaikoura
Mount John ConservatorySorry I haven't been on strike just been busy having fun, my updates are long overdue!
One other thing I did in Lake Tekapo was to go up on top of Mount John one evening to see the Mount John Conservatory which works in conjunction with the University of Canterbury. There we looked thru telescopes and actually got a clear view of Saturn and it's rings, also got to see the "Crux'- the southern crosswhich you are not able to see in North America and a few other constellations like the Jewel Box, Sirius, Milky Way and Orion.
Next stop was Christchurch, a really nice town with Cathedral Square that had trolley cars, old buildings and a church. Had fish and chips in newspaper and strolled thru their beautiful museum for a few hours. Saw the movie 'The Reader' with Kate Winslot, it was a nice day ending it with delicious Indian food for dinner!
Next day I was off to the beautiful town of Kaikoura to swim with the dolphins. My friend who lives there laughed at me cause he said even the dolphins wear wetsuits this time of year! Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) there were no dolphin sitings that day so it was cancelled. Apparently the week before a bunch of orcas came thru and ate a bunch of dolphins right in front of some Japanese tourists who were screaming 'Stop them' only to have the locals look at them and say 'It's nature!'
So I met up with a my friend Darren, who is passionate about the Maori history and spreading the word and he took me for a tour of an old Pa (village) where a Maori tribe lived, explained how they built them to fight off other Maori tribes and where they would have their homes and ceremony areas. Then he took me to his family site where they have gatherings for everything from weddings, funerals or any other type of celebrations. Very interesting and cultural afternoon and I didn't have to freeze in any water!
Then Darren was kind enough to give me a crayfish to cook. I really appreciated this even more once a group of us from the hostel went out that night and some wanted to try crayfish. It cost $118 for a whole one and $72 for 1/2 of one! So I cooked mine the next day, it was delicous, tasted alot like lobster.
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