Trip to Akaroa and Lyttelton

The last weekend was a long weekend, because Monday was Labor Day which is a public holiday. So Tobias, the german internship guy working for Trimble as well, asked me if I want to join him discovering Banks Peninsula, just off Christchurch. I didn't have to think long, whether I should join him or not, because it is a great opportunity to see some beautiful places. So we left on Saturday afternoon and drove straight to Akaroa, where we walked along the beach, to the nice little light house. Before we went to a little bar we had some fish and chips from the really famous local fish and chips store (a lot of different people told us to go there and eat fish and chips)... and it was really nice.
Then in the bar we met some european people, some swiss, some german... jep, they're everywhere... but we had a nice evening together, talking about the experiences we made so far in New Zealand.
On the next day we drove to Okains Bay, a nice little bay on the north side of the peninsula. After that we definitely wanted to see Lyttelton, so we drove to Lyttelton and we weren't disappointed. Lyttelton is the one and only harbor of Christchurch, so all the goods coming and leaving Christchurch by ship will pass Lyttelton. But it isn't as busy as one would expect... the 'old' town (the first settlers who came to Christchurch, first settled down in Lyttelton and that was in 1849, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Port_of_lyttelton.jpg) is quite small, but really nice. Our next, but last stop was probably our highest stop. We went to the Port Hills, which is kind of Üetliberg of Zurich, or Säntis for eastern Switerland :-). It is the nearest, most exciting nature of Christchurch, where a lot of bikers, cyclists, climbers, hikers,... have a lot of fun. The view is awesome, you can see the wide sea, Lyttelton, Christchurch, the Southern Alps,... which means that you have a good view in any direction.

Then I have something else to be happy about. I went sailing on the Estuary (the little very shallow bay east of Christchurch, http://maps.google.co.nz/?ie=UTF8&ll=-43.54606,172.721214&spn=0.05064,0.087461&t=h&z=14) on Saturday morning. The weather was perfect for sailing, quite strong, constant wind and sunshine!! :-) Unfortunately I haven't made any pictures, but the guy, I borrowed the boat from, told me that I'll be welcome to borrow one of his boats another time again. So that was just awesome!

Last but not least, I have got a new bike... yes, an old nice PEUGEOT... although it needed a bit of care and cleaning, so that's what I did on Monday, the public holiday: I cleaned my new bike and had to change the tube and tire (!!! the puncture was quite severe... the tire had a 2cm tear) the first time already. That wasn't a good start, I had a puncture on Friday, the 2nd day i had my bike...
But now it looks nice again and it is nice to ride again... :-)

Hope you are all well!
ps. see photos...!