Day 15: East Coast to Christchurch
We had another 6AM wake-up call – again, for a Lindsay photo-op – this time for the Moeraki Boulders! This grouping of spherical boulders is famous for being particularly pretty at sunrise. Lindsay was totally convinced – Igor on the other hand thought the whole ordeal rather silly.
Lindsay is not alone in her excitement – look at all the other sunrise devotees!
Moeraki Boulders at sunrise
Being one with Nature – even a broken boulder holds a little magic
We took our time driving up the coat the rest of the day, pulling over whenever we saw an interesting sign. At one of the trailheads we saw a hawk, chowing down on its kill. Igor walked up to see what its victim was – a chicken! Lindsay didn’t believe him at first, until another chicken ran out of the bushes towards us! The poor little girl was looking for handouts (which of course we gave her). Igor really wanted to take her with us – if only to drop her off at the first farm we saw to save her from being another hawk’s dinner, but she was too fast to catch.
Feeding a runaway chicken – you can tell we miss our girls! A menacing hawk waiting patiently for us to leave. 🙁
Lindsay offered to drive for a bit, to let Igor check out the AA Travel Guide to see if there were any more attractions he wanted to hit. He was a great navigator and found an AWESOME detour: Tame Wallabies at EnkleDooVery Korna in Waimate!
OMG – wallabies are SO SWEET! I want one.
Apparently, wallabies were introduced to New Zealand, and like most introduced mammals, are now considered a pest. However, this woman in Waimate rescues and hand-rears injured and abandoned wallabies and houses them in a petting-zoo type setting for tourists to feed and pet them. She spays/neuters them so they don’t contribute to the overpopulation problem, and as her attraction is the biggest tourist draw in town, it’s a win-win situation! Totally worth a stop.
We have about 50 pictures of us feeding wallabies – this activity does NOT get boring.
Feeding a baby wallaby!
We got to Christchurch, parked the RV, and met up with Lindsay’s mom & step-dad who planned their trip to New Zealand around ours – it was so great to see some familiar faces! After a much needed shower, we all headed out for dinner on the town to catch-up on everything we’d done so far and to plan our next few days together.
Cheers to dinner with family! Delicious Chilean fare (that Lindsay didn’t have to cook!) – and yes: Casillero was on the wine list.
Lindsay you an Igor are having the time of your life and you are so special to share it with everybody I feel like I’m living and seeing things I would never know about other than for you and Igor sharing have a incredible journey and keep enjoying every minute love you both