Chilly Weekend: Fireworks, Tramping, and French

It was a festive weekend in the Canterbury region.

The weekend started off lively on Friday night. I caught the bus with some American friends to the Festival of Lights in Lyttelton, the port town near Christchurch. The light display was a bit dismal for a "festival of lights." I think there was a total of 3 strings of Christmas lights lighting up the entire block where the festival was held. But there was a fireworks show, live music and more types of sausages being grilled than I'd ever care to see again (the kiwis love their sausages... just wrap a piece of white bread around it and you're good to go). All the kiwis were out enjoying the festival on the street with their sausages and mulled wine, a few boys even in shorts. I, on the other hand, was a bit on the frozen side. Perhaps it was because I didn't have a sausage in one hand and a glass of mulled wine in the other. Lesson noted. I enjoyed the festival nonetheless.


Saturday morning was the beginning of my adventurous weekend with the French. My french flatmate hired a car and he and I, along with 3 other french guys, went tramping. It was drizzly and cold when we woke up, but we headed out to climb Mount Herbert, the highest peak on the Banks Peninsula at about 920 meters (~3000 feet). It's about a 45 minute drive from Christchurch. The hike was mostly through private sheep pastures, rising from the ocean to the peak, which is said to have beautiful views of Christchurch and the Canterbury plains. I can't validate that. It was drizzling when we started, then began to rain, then the wind picked up. Any moisture-wicking ability of my pants disappeared quickly and they soon became soaked. We were in a cloud for about half of the hike. My face went numb, then my legs, then my hands, but we made it to the shelter at the top. Ate lunch. Struggled to get my gloves on my hands then journeyed back down the slippery slope. We were muddy and a bit of mess when we got back to the car, but it was a fun first tramp in NZ.

The crew. Wet and happy to be almost down the mountain.

Sunday was another day, even a bit more French. We loaded up in the car again, me and the French guys, and headed to Akaroa, the famous French settlement on the Banks Peninsula, located about 1.5 hours from Christchurch. The weather was even worse than Saturday. It was raining and the road was flooded in sections. I tried to explain the concept of hydroplaning to the French in an effort to persuade them to drive a bit slower. I don't know if it helped much but I did find out that it's called aqua-planing in France. We made it to Akaroa. It was pretty but cloudy and rainy so the bay didn't exhibit the usual vibrant turquoise colors it's known for. We then ventured to Pigeon Bay, which has significance to my family as this is where my mom's family settled before coming to Hawaii in the 1860s. I went there with my family when I was 8, but remembered very little of it. It's a very small settlement with nothing more than a few houses. After a brief exploration, my French friends decided we were taking the coastal route back. This was where the biggest adventure of the weekend began. The road became all gravel and quite narrow. It had been raining so it was a bit slick. It wove up and down the hillsides of the finger-like Banks Peninsula, with a steep dropoff on one side with no guardrail. Luckily, the French guy driving understood it was good to slow down on this part of the road. It was still a bit sketchy. As we were going down some of the steep sections probably burning the brakes on the rental car, I suggested that they switch the car into 2nd gear or Low. I found out they didn't know what the letters stood for, i.e. P for Park, R for reverse, N for neutral, etc. We saw one sign that said "Christchurch 54 km" and the running joke was that this was the main road to Christchurch. For some reason, jokes don't even need to have a hint of humor to be funny when you're with French and there is a lot of miscommunication involved. Luckily, it wasn't gravel for all 54 km. We hit asphalt again and the roller coast ride continued. I was sure happy to make it home alive!


Summary of the weekend: cold, wet, and french, but a great adventure!

View of Banks Peninsula looking north.

Looking out from Pigeon Bay. Psuedo-symmetry!

Looking up the valley from Pigeon Bay.

Hello! Heading from Pigeon Bay back to Christchurch.

Addendum: My mind is getting used to biking on the left and driving on the left, but for some reason I'm still walking on the right. I returned to uni this morning and realized today that I need to walk on the left side when I'm walking up/down stairs or through hallways. I keep almost running into people and have gotten some curious looks.