Goodbye New Zealand!

In Christchurch i stayed with 4 guys (Sam, Alex, Logan and James) + Doug the cat, who were studying at the university in the city. It was rather entertaining to be back i a student house and it reminded me of good old Bristol times. Christchurch was a nice small city to wander around in with really great little shops and cute cafes (its all about the cafe culture don't you know!) I also paid a visit to the Christchurch Art Gallery which had some nice exhibitions in place. I also explored the Arts Centre which is set in the colleges of the old Canterbury University. It has been turned into a creative hub with loads of studios and galleries for painters, sculptors, weavers and other crafty techniques. The botanical gardens also provided a nice environment for an afternoon stroll in the sunshine. My last night was spent celebrating Logan's birthday which was great fun as Alex made an epic chocolate cake complete with chocolatey decorations, amazing. I was also treated to homemade spirits which the boys make themselves, lots of different flavoured vodkas, gins, rums etc. These so called 'surprise shots' made for a slightly dodge journey in the early hours of the morning to return the rental car before my 6am flight to Melbourne. Luckily though, i just made it and had a very much needed sleep on the plan across the water to Asutralia.Hooray!

Caffeine break

My last bit of cafe culture 'research' was spent at C1 Espresso on at one end of High Street. A really cool cafe complete with lots of papers and art/fashion mags to browse through as well as cool decor and exposed brick walls. There was even an old singer sewing machine which dispensed tap water! I decided to break my usual routine of just a coffee and splash out on an amazingly yummy savoury muffin to accompany my trim flat white.

* ' ~ ~ dedicated to Rose :) ~~ ' *

Christchurch street view

The streets surrounding cathedral square - the central landmard of thecity - had some great little shops and cafes and the architecture was really cool with lots of old warehouse-type structures and quirky alleyways. One facade on a particular little laneway was clad with a stack of bicycles which looked really cool and there was also a mini car imposed on theopposite building above another bar.

Cows and sunset!

Akaroa

Nice little day trip to Akaroa with the feeling of a little seaside town. Lots of boats and a few little shops and cafes. A great drive past little secluded bays along the way and views across the valleys and hills.

Quaint little Oamaru

En route to our final destination of Christchurch we stopped off at the little town of Oamaru, famous for its old style shops and colony of little blue penguins. We visited lots of the old shops including the still running local radio station with its amazing collection of vintage radios and also the local bookstore.

Duniden Farmers Market

Being in a city on a Saturday is always great because it means you can check out the local farmers market. The one at Duniden had a great range of fresh produce, meat, fish, deli stuff, baked goods, cheeses, honey etc etc and also had an amazing food demonstration stall where we secured "front row seats" and were able to taste all the yummy meals on offer. This included a spanish cook in the frying pan breakfast, a tasty asian tofu salad and a yummy apple and dried fruit crumble. The idea behind the menus comes from what other stalls donate for that week so it is all based on seasonal produce. This means that each week the chef comes up with new menus to suit which products are available, genius. We took away the recipe sheets, hoping to be able to make some of the dishes along the way on our travels.