Leaving the South Island

As our time in the South Island came to an end, we headed back up the East coast towards Christchurch, where we were to drop off the campervan. On the way, we called in to see one of the South Island's most famous sights.

The Moeraki Boulders are an amazing collection of spherical rocks, seemingly dropped out of thin air onto the beach at Moeraki, near Oamaru. According to geologists, they were formed when crushed seabed matter (such as shells) coalesced around small lumps of harder rock, which was then made larger (and round) by marine creature action (similar to worm action). Minerals in the rock then chemically reacted, causing the core to shrink, in turn causing the outer rock to crack. The cracks were back-filled with more (different) rock, giving the lines that can be seen on the surface of the boulders.

After marvelling at the boulders, we had just one stop left: Christchurch.

Christchurch is the most English of NZ's cities. Looking at the street names (including, we were pleased to see, Lichfield St!) you can certainly see the English influence. The weather was fantastic, so we fully enjoyed the botanic gardens.

A nice way to see the city is to use the restored tram system. It's stricly for tourists only though, as it only runs a 2km one-way loop around the centre! It's very relaxed, and there's an accompanying tour commentary.

We had a really nice, relaxed time in Christchurch, perfectly rounding off our time in the South Island, before we headed to the airport for our return flight to Auckland.

Rob