The next day was December 31 and we were driving to an extinct volcano, about two hours away. I'd reserved the yoogo for 9am and I was hoping to be in Akaroa by 11am. However, the first hurdle was picking up the car: The carpark exit was blocked by a large swing gate that was padlocked! The reservation had given me a "gate code" but didn't say anything about padlocks. Silly me, it took ten minutes before I turned the padlock over to find it was a combination lock, and the "gate code" was the combination!
I picked up the family and headed off...but first we needed to run some errands. We needed to get a new memory card for my camera (in ten years I'd never filled the card, but the kids had managed to do it in 40 minutes during the helicopter ride); we needed provisions for a picnic lunch; and my eldest needed passport photos for her Israeli visa. In addition, my partner had been watching Trademe (the local equivalent of eBay) for a backpack for her to take to Israel. Last night she found one, and it was in Christchurch, but we could only pick it up that morning.
The previous night I had devised a very cunning plan: There was a tech store, a supermarket and a post office all near the pickup for the backup. I would drop my son at the tech store; I would drop my partner at the grocery store; I would pick up the backpack and then take my eldest to the post office, as they do passport photos. The tech store said it was open at 9am, we got there at 9:30am, and the sign on the door said they'd open at 10am. My partner wanted to see the backpack so we had to go out of our way to pick that up first, then come back to the grocery store. The post office was cleverly hidden inside another building with no signage, and when we finally found it they told us they didn't know what the photo requirements were for Israel and sent us elsewhere. (They also wouldn't give her an 18+ card because, although they asked for proof of ID--and I'd brought her passport--what they really wanted was proof of address, which I didn't have.)
They referred us to a camera shop nearby where we got the photo taken, but they said it would be 10 minutes until they were ready. I left the kids at the mall while I went and picked up my partner at the supermarket, and when I got back 10 minutes later the photos were ready but the kids were nowhere in sight. I found two but the eldest wasn't answering her phone, and after looking in every store I was pretty furious. I announced we were going without her, texted her the address and door code for the Airbnb, and headed for the car. Needless to say, she was at the car; she'd left her phone inside the car, so had no way to contact me, but she she saw the car in the parking lot and decided to wait for us there.
We went back to the tech store, which was now open, but they didn't have the memory card I wanted so I ended up spending twice as much for a bigger card. It was also now 11am and we were just getting on the road. After a quick stop at the Barry Bay cheese stop, we got to Akaroa at 1pm and we were supposed to be on the boat at 1:30pm.
I'd heard about "range anxiety" for electric car owners, but of course had never experienced it. The Hyundai Ioniq had a 200km range, and it was 87km to Akaro. Factor in all the errands that morning, and it was pretty tight. However, I'd done my homework, found there was a charging site in Akaroa (right next to the wharf), and had signed up so I could use it. (Amazingly, it was free!) I pulled up, sent the kids off to eat, and then spent the next 15 minutes trying to figure out how to plug it in. I finally gave up and called the help line, only to get an automated recording telling me there was a problem with the charger in Akaroa. Even if I had figured it out, I could only park in the charging spot for 60 minutes, and the boat ride was three hours! So I finally gave up, moved the car (the only other parking I could find was a ten minute walk uphill) and met the kids at the ferry terminal.
We were here for a "swimming with dolphins" experience. Unlike other places where you are effectively in a pool with captive dolphins--which sounds horrific--this outfit took you into the harbour, dropped you in the water, and let the wild dolphins come to you. However, being a sunny summer's day, there were a lot of boats in the water and the cashier we spoke to said the morning ferry had no luck at all, so it was very unlikely we'd see anything and she'd give us a refund if we wanted.
The kids wanted to go anyway, in case there was a chance, but I said I wasn't paying $600 per person for them to just go swimming in the harbour. The lovely cashier booked us on a harbour cruise instead, and gave us a 25% discount as well. We had an hour wait so I got lunch, the kids got ice cream, and my partner got antihistamines. Something in Christchurch was not agreeing with her--she's never had allergies, but her eyes and nose were both streaming. A friend had recommended the Giant's House, which I didn't know anything about, so we walked 15 minutes only to find there was a $20 admission so we turned around and walked 15 minutes back.
The cruise was great and, because we went all the way to the harbour mouth, we got to see some dolphins. Unfortunately, there were some big swells at the harbour mouth and I got very seasick, so I ended up inside the cabin whilst the rest of the family were outside taking photos. (Once we were back in the harbour, I was fine.)
We got in the car and headed home. I knew there was another charging station along the way, in a town called Little River, so I stopped there just to be on the safe side. The charger had three different connections and I still had no idea what I was doing, but I eventually managed to get it charging. (I realised later I was on trickle charge.) After about half an hour of sitting there -- the "town" consisted of a restaurant and a petrol station, probably both owned by the same person -- another car pulled up to use the charger, and so I tried to unplug it, except I couldn't! It was somehow locked, and there was nothing in the user manual about unlocking it! The other couple had a different car and never had that issue, so they were no help, but they were annoyed that I was in their way. (The charger had two cables but I'd pulled up at a very bad angle, so they couldn't get their car close enough.) I finally called the help line and he suggested turning the car off and back on, which magically did the trick. When I had disconnected it, after half an hour of charging, I found the range had gone from 90km to 98km.
That was part 1 of the day; part 2 was a New Year's Eve celebration at A Rolling Stone, an Irish pub that was hosting a "cieli," the Irish equivalent of a Scottish Cèilidh (pronounce kay-lee). I'd only been to one Cèilidh before, but it was a lot of fun, and it was the only family-friendly event I could find. (Once we were in Christchurch, we'd discovered the town was hosting its own NYE celebration in the park, with music and fireworks, and it was free. Unfortunately they hadn't published this anywhere online!) The ceili started at 7pm but we had dinner at home and didn't arrive until 10pm, which turned out to be fine because the whole thing was poorly organised, the instructor made it very complex, and she brought some of her students which just made the rest of us look like idiots. The eldest - now a month from being 18 - wanted alcohol, so we indulged her. (New Zealand follows the European model, where parents can buy kids alcohol at practically any age.) When I offered another round later, she was over the alcohol and just wanted a soda.
When we left, there was a group of women in the parking lot comforting one girl who was vomiting everywhere. I don't think any of the kids will drink to excess, but hopefully that image will stay with them for a while...
We got home around 1am. I didn't have to return the car until 8am, but I decided to take care of it that evening and I was glad I did: We all slept until about noon the next day!
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