Day 309 (Sat 12 May) - Christchurch

Drove onto Christchurch passing Mount Hutt and stopping off for lunch at Rakaia Gorge for lunch.

A lovely sunny day as we had lunch on a bench watching the fast moving blue water of the river.

Drove onto Christchurch and parked by the Gondola. Whizzed up and had excellent views of Christchurch, the plains surrounding it, the mountains in the distance, the numerous bays and the sea.

As it was such a fine day we decided to walk back down to the van as opposed to taking the gondola. The path was quite steep in places and its surface, almost scree like, slipped from under your feet. Managed to get down in one piece and headed off to the Amber caravan park some 40mins walk from the centre.

A comfortable place where we got ourselves organised then caught the bus into town. Pottered round for a bit then settled into the Red Jacks restaurant for beers and fine food. Busy little place complete. Had a great time.

Wandered back to the bus station where we caught the bus back to our campsite.