There’s not much that Cheviot can claim in the way of tourism. It’s positioned right on Highway 1 an hour and a half north of Christchurch and 45 minutes south of Kaikoura. There’s one petrol station, a handful of cafes, and a convenience store for groceries. We spent a few days here in June, but we decided to come back to work on a website for our host. But lest you think we didn’t have other reasons for returning, here’s a look at our 2 week (turned 3 week) stay in Cheviot.
We would start just about every morning with a workout in the gym downstairs. Sanna is a personal fitness trainer, so we had all kinds of toys to play with!
After a healthy, protein-filled breakfast, we’d get down to business building a website for Go Wild Productions. Ellis is a travel TV host who dives with Great White sharks, takes rafting trips down New Zealand rivers, hunts wild pigs, and has sailed across the Cook Strait in a rotten dinghy with broomstick paddles. Talk about wild! Unfortunately, we weren’t able to meet Ellis since he was off in the Caribbean filming. But his website is almost ready to go live with heaps of amazing pictures and stories.
When the weather was nice and sunny, we would eat lunch outside then drive to Gore Bay to go for a run by the beach. Just thinking about the warm sun is (almost) enough to warm me as I watch the snow fall outside the window in Wellington where I’m typing this post. (Come quickly, Spring!)
And I can’t post about Cheviot without including the pets. Sanna’s dog Sasha had puppies just a few weeks before we arrived. It was so cute watching them learn to open their eyes, then double in size in the 3 weeks we were there!
Simba the cat was very vocal about wanting food and wanting to be let outside, except for the weekend he lost his voice. It was so sad watching him try so hard to meow and only a squeak would escape!
Most evenings after dinner we would make our way into the living room with the big screen television and choose a movie from the massive DVD library. I have never seen so many movies in one house! Some of our favorites were Changeling (with Angelina Jolie), Maria Full of Grace (an indie film about a Colombian girl who gets caught up in the drug trade), Cinderella Man (with Russell Crowe), and the behind the scenes footage from Lord of the Rings (though we only watched about half–there are hours and hours of footage!) But if you’re thinking about watching The Weatherman (with Nicholas Cage) or Syriana (with Matt Damon & George Clooney–which you would expect to be amazing, right?)–don’t bother. Those were big duds in our book.
Overall, we had a fantastic stay in Cheviot. It’s nice to have more than a few days in one place. We were able to unpack our bags and settle into a routine. We’re back on the road now, working our way up the east coast of the North Island. Soon we’ll detail the fantastic foodie tour of Wellington which we planned over the weekend!
View more pics from our experience on Facebook!
