Indian Sumner

Dec 4: I went to the seaside town of Sumner. It was gorgeous, but extremely windy day. We took a bus from Christchurch all the way to Sumner. Since we were the last folks on the bus, the bus driver turned around and asked us where we were headed. When we mentioned that we were visiting Sumner and didn't have any real plans, our bus driver offered to drop us by the beach, so we readily accepted. She gave us a little tour of the surrounding hills on the way to shore. Once we got to our stop, she directed to the beach by saying "if you walk down this street you'll pass a lovely little chocolate shop and then a little further, you'll reach a clock tower and then practically be on the beach." We had to stop by the chocolate shop and I bought some chocolate covered caramels. They were delicious. There was a quiet old kiwi man sitting inside the shop, making chocolates. He put a complimentary coffee chocolate in the bag.  This is a picture of me inside the clock tower.

There was a surf school having lessons out in the ocean. Everyone was wearing a wetsuit and I think it was mainly to protect them from the wind chill. To surf here I'd need a board and a wetsuit, definitely a wetsuit. The waves were very small and messy. I didn't see any good rides and I've seen better waves in Atlantic beach. There was also a lone surf kayaker. They seemed to be having a good time even though there wasn't much to ride on.

The beach was beautiful. There were huge rock formations to climb on and many cavernous areas. I clambered up to the top of several rocky outcroppings and through a few caves. I thought one of the cave openings looked pretty cool and kind of like a state. In retrospect, it doesn't really look like a state. The sea was nice to visit, but I would like to get into a few more sporty things involving the sea, you know, get out there sea kayaking or surfing.

Walking along the beach, I was almost bowled over by the wind coming from the sea. It was extremely gusty and the air temperature would have been fine if not for the icy wind. So I was somewhat reluctant to test the water, even with my hand because I was already chilly and assumed the water would be just as cold. However, once I worked up the courage and stuck my hand in the water, I was amazed that it was so lovely and warm. The water felt almost like a bath. Then we walked away from the beach towards the little town of Sumner. Nature was nice, but it was time get some food and to explore the shops and restaurants. I also noticed that there was a nice little library.

Gordon decided that he wanted a pie of the meaty variety. So we ended up at a gourmet pie shop with meat pies and dessert pies. It was quite a cool little shop. We sat down so Gord could eat his pie and I could enjoy my delicious Ginger Beer. It had the strangest pull tab top. I was reminded of Asheville because they gave me a mason jar glass. When we sat down, one of the pie shop workers took a seat at an incredibly out of tune piano and started playing a Disney song which I quickly identified as the Lion King. Gordon incorrectly identified it as Aladdin King. Sometimes he says things quicker than his mind can process them, but for the most part it's ridiculously amusing. The guy then asked for requests. I asked for another Disney song and he apologized because he didn't know anymore Disney and proceeded to play "My heart will go on" from the Titanic soundtrack and he even sang a bit of it. We got to talking and found out that he was going to Uni for Mechanical Engineering and Music Composition. He played us a three part composition that he composed in high school and then went on to talk a bit about the rock opera that he was writing. The pie shop guy and the bus driver lady are just two pieces of anecdotal evidence that exemplify how friendly and personable Kiwis are.

Cautionary Tale #3: If you hang your clothes out to dry, be very wary of the weather. In Christchurch, it can go from zero to sixty in about 1 minute, meaning no rain to rain. This is a lesson every person who previously relied on dryers will learn the hard way. On another note, my towels are still fuzzing off on me.



Listen to that wind roar and watch those waves roll.