The past few days in New Zealand - Banks Peninsula, Kaikoura, and Christchurch

For our last days in New Zealand, we had planned some beautiful stops, and with a whale watching flight in Kaikoura, an absolute highlight was waiting for us, which we had booked a few weeks in advance.

First, we drove from the Banks Peninsula near Christchurch to Akaroa. We actually wanted to stay overnight at a kind of hippie farm near Akaroa at a campsite, as we had only read extremely positive comments about it on Campermate. However, this was a bit too alternative for us, and somewhat shocked by what was offered to us, we quickly looked for something more civilized and stayed overnight at a campsite in Akaroa =D

The next day, we continued our road trip towards Christchurch and chose the Tourist Drive after a stroll in the harbor town of Akaroa, which was absolutely the right decision. The Tourist Drive is quite narrow and curvy, but if you're not traveling in an oversized motorhome, you shouldn't miss this highlight and the breathtaking view.

The next stop took us to Kaikoura, a town about 200 km north of Christchurch and known for its whale and dolphin watching tours. Currently, a visit to Kaikoura is only possible from Christchurch, as the road from the north is still closed due to the earthquake last November. Even coming from the south, the coastal road is only open during the day, as the earthquake damage still needs to be repaired. These can be seen everywhere. Although a lot of restoration work has already been done, the train line is probably still closed for a long time.

Arriving in Kaikoura, we had fantastic weather near 30°C, so we could look forward to our booked whale watching flight. Unfortunately, the weather let us down again, just like at Mount Cook, and it turned out as expected that on the morning of our flight, the weather changed. Nevertheless, we still had hope for our 40-minute flight in a light aircraft, as the group before us was still outside and had successfully observed the 3rd largest whales in the world. However, when we started, the rain had increased so much that a flight would have made no sense at all, and so we had to turn around after a 2-minute flight and some shaking. Our hope for a later flight that day was soon dashed, as the weather did not improve. So we set off towards Christchurch, quite disappointed.

In Christchurch, we spent the last 3 days of our New Zealand adventure and booked a hostel again, as we had to return our beloved Toyota Corolla on the first day. It was just as difficult for us to let go of our camping equipment as it was to farewell our comfort of the past few weeks :-//

For the last few days, we had planned some city walks in the impressive city of Christchurch and had to organize a few things for the following days and weeks of our trip. Christchurch is a city that is currently undergoing a complete transformation, as it was almost completely destroyed by the severe earthquakes of 2011 and 2012. It is incredibly impressive to see how people have dealt with and are still dealing with this fate. There are countless beautiful street arts to be seen in the city, and the ReStart Shopping Mall, which was created in shipping containers, is definitely worth a visit. There are currently countless construction projects, some of which are already completed, in progress, or will be built in the next few years.

Building work is definitely underway, and as a result, Christchurch will likely be the oldest city in New Zealand and at the same time the newest city in the world due to the complete reconstruction with modern, impressive buildings.