The plan for this Christchurch Easter 2022 holiday was to unwind and simply take in nature and all its beauty and that’s exactly what I did. Easter holiday statutorily begins on Friday, known as Good Friday and spans till Easter Monday. However, I travelled few days before good Friday and returned on the Saturday of the easter weekend.
My travel itinerary was the way it was for many reasons including unavailable/overpriced accommodation and flight tickets; and the fact that one of my two travel buddies had some deadlines in the following week. Soooo…yeah.
I still saved on spending though.
We had this trip planned over a month to the actual travel date. Flights booked. We all booked the non-flexi, non-refundable options so that we don’t come up with reasons to cancel the trip.
But…..
A week and some days to the trip, I contracted COVID-19. I have made a video documentary of my experience and this is up on my YouTube channel so, click the link to watch and share yours too, if you don’t mind. Don’t forget to subscribe and encourage your friends to subscribe too.
Travel buddies
I went on the trip with Anchit and Nick, whom I met through Anchit. They are besties!! Anchit and I are alumni of University of Auckland. He often tells our mutual friends, “I was his professor at Uni” and I always act humble but…. you and I know that my head don swell go far *wink*.
The thing is I was a GTA while studying for my PhD and Anchit took one of the papers I was handling.
Both Anchit and Nick flew in from Hamilton, Waikato while I flew in from Palmerston North, Manawatu. For the sake of this post, I’ll use AncNic when referring to both of them. LOL.
Anyway, back to the trip
Flights
Our flight times were moved to about two hours later for “technical reasons”. AncNic’s was moved twice!!! Oh well, we all made it to Christchurch. AncNic arrived before me and since they had enough time (approx 2 hours) before my arrival, they picked up our rental and went to have lunch/dinner. I arrived later that evening and we all went to our first accommodation, Hotel Give.
Accommodation
Each night, for the entire trip, we stayed at different accommodation.
Our first night was at Hotel Give. It is a YMCA managed hotel so all the funds they make goes into YMCA programmes. At least that is how I understood the receptionist’s explanation. We stayed in a Deluxe Triple Room. In there was a simple side lamp that doubled as a smart phone/watch charger (check out the videeeooooo!!!)
Our next accommodation was Aoraki Alpine Lodge at Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park. It’s the mid-range accommodation in Mt Cook area. It also got the view though partially blocked thanks to the design of the accommodation. The space between the beds of the bunk bed was so small that I could not sit upright. It was when I was talking about it with AncNic that they mentioned they had booked the family room.
So, in the lodge’s defense, the bunk bed was designed for kids. It was our least favourite accommodation regardless. The perks is that you can cook your meal in the equipped kitchen and Wi-Fi is good there. Unlike, where we stay on our trip to Coromandel during Waitangi holiday earlier in the year.
Next crashing location would be Camelot Motor Lodge in Christchurch. The only attractive feature of the hotel was, for us, the exterior design. It was serving uniqueness!! Looked like something off an old Disney movie story. Like one of those snow white dwarfs’ houses; more like their hats. Anyway, the design was in the style of English timber villages. Ours was on the double storey building (mezzanine style).
Lastly, we treated ourselves to a modern-style house from AirBnB. We had the entire place to ourselves. My gosh, I haven’t been excited about a house like I was in a very long time. The house was Alexa controlled; it had those pin-coded door locks, a ring doorbell, a jacuzzi, a waterfall, an EV charging spot!! The highlight for me was the alexa thingy. The deco was nice, typical dry flowers and dry flower themed decorations. Omo, na so I quickly do YouTube video oooo!!!
Lastly,
The experience
We had mad fun. We were so excited when we arrived. It felt and looked like an “akpa ndihe obot” scenario ‘cos every small detail was exciting and intriguing. We really need to get out more mehn!!!!
But, can you blame us?
We had been holed up in the house for a while since the red light district (my version of NZ COVID red alert level) was announced. Plus, Christchurch is a half-modern city. A lot of remodeling and reconstruction has taken place since the 2011 earthquake so, the city is a beautiful blend of old and modern architecture and structures.
International travel is coming back.
After we checked in and gushed over how beautiful Christchurch is, we we went out for dinner. The search for a place to eat took us through the Park and to Crafts Embassy.
I’m a sucker for buildings with unique character and like I said in the vlog, it doesn’t have to be massive, just let it have some character and you got my attention. My sister StyleMoe knows what I mean.
Then,
We explored the night scene of Christchurch city, casinos, gardens, parks and back to the hotel. It wasn’t my first time in Christchurch city so, I knew some tourist attraction worth seeing. But, it was AncNic’s first time and I had a strong feeling they may exhaust their adventure spirit. Plus, I’d always wanted to see the fountain at the Botanical Gardens at night so, what did a baby girl do.?
I encouraged them to go with me to see the garden. Besides, it was just across the Hotel Give. #smartmove.
The following day we headed to Aoraki/Mt Cook for our Hooker Valley Track. Here forth, I’ll let the video do the talking. I’ve highlighted key moments in the vlog and other videos on my YouTube channel. Therefore watch the video below for full details or just to get a pictorial view of my gist.
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Note: Every activity in this video are must do activities for Christchurch road trips. Find time to do them when you visit.
