Day 8 (Tuesday 2nd January 2024) Lyttelton, Christchurch and winery tours.

 Today our ship docked in working port of Lyttelton. 

Lyttelton (Māori: Ōhinehou or Māori: Riritana)^[2] is a porttown on the north shore of Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō, at the northwestern end of Banks Peninsulaand close to Christchurch, on the eastern coast of the South Island of New Zealand. 

Our shore tour is a visit to two wineries to the north of Christchurch followed by a buffet lunch at a local restaurant called “the better half”. Our tour ends with a quick bus tour thorough the city of Christchurch. 

We have visited Lyttelton way back in 2010, a quaint port with a large artistic favour. A regular port of call for cruise ships, the port opened a new purpose built pier in November 2020, able to handle the largest modern ships. Today we boarded a tour bus with very informative bus driver/ tour operator, who gave running commentary on the history and geography of area as we passed through the outskirts of Christchurch and headed north.

Our first winery Georges Road Winery was new to the game of cellar door operations. We tasted 5 wines, 3 whites and 2 reds, which were pleasant. The hosts were lovely.

Georges Road winery 

Georges Road winery dog

Nothing jumped out to buy at Georges Road Winery but next winery we found plenty to like. Unfortunately they don’t send overseas so we lucked out. Highly recommend Torlesse winery located behind the local primary school.

After 2nd the winery we visited “Better half” restaurant and bar for lunch which was pleasant. We then returned back Christchurch. 

We were told that the city experienced rapid growth following the earthquakes. A Christchurch Central Recovery Plan guides rebuilding in the central city. There has been massive growth in the residential sector, with around 50,000 new houses expected to be constructed in the Greater Christchurch area by 2028. Despite the progress from our last visit, it is still sad to see whole suburbs deserted because the land is not fit for purpose. We saw whole estates with just roads and light posts left. Apparently the developments were built on land that had been marshes in the 19th century but no one kept records. Meanwhile back home whole suburbs are going under water due to current floods. I think more rigourous town planning and less developer profit (on the Gold Coast) perhaps. 🤔 

After returning to the ship we enjoyed a meal, a stage show and comedian. Very pleasant day. 

Leaving port

Lyttelton 

View of Lyttelton from the ship