Sheila's Stories and Stitches: Highlands and Coastal Roads

Run, Forrest, run!

The day after biking/running around Christchurch we go exploring the highlands to the east. I finally see sheep - in fact, we inadvertently helped to herd them with our 4-wheel drive vehicle.

Since we were crossing over working farms, we also got to see cows being brought to a pen by a group of farmers and dogs. It was so fun to watch I forgot to take pictures.

The Canterbury Plains are beautiful - similar to Switzerland in that you have patches of flat lands surrounded by mountains. They may not be as storybook perfect as Switzerland, but they have their own charm.

We get a preview of the river we'll be on when we ride a jet boat later in the day. They tell us the water only needs to be 4 inches deep for the boat. I'll take their word on that. Notice the steep cliffs in the picture...the boat goes within inches of the walls. No wonder they tell us to keep our arms inside the boat at all times! Though I wanted to hold my hands up in the air (like on a roller coaster) when we did the 360 turns.

Should have worn a barrette for the jet boat ride!

The view at 40 mph!

After the jet boat ride we get to take a train back to Christchurch, which is rated as one of the top ten scenic train rides in the world. The weather goes from foggy to partly cloudy, so we don't get quite the same postcard pictures as we did the day before.

The front part of our train, as we head to the scary bridge over the Waimakariri River Gorge.

The next morning we head out to Waipara to visit some wineries. A lot of pinot noir in the area, which isn't our favorite type but we're willing to try. Our guide from yesterday recommended Torlesse (they used his wines for their wedding) and we had a blast talking with the winemaker.