November 24th:
Not so Exciting. Got on a plane and flew to Christchurch where it was dark. So didn't really see anything. But the people have been nice!
November 25th:
Sleep in day! (Much needed after my run of nights) Then, we explored Christchurch.
It's a cute little city, and is known as the Garden City. There are over 740 gardens and parks in this city. We loved Queen Victoria park, where you can see the meandering Avon river and watch the punters row their little gondolas down the river with tourists onboard.
Cathedral square, with the Christchurch cathedral as the central point, was neat.
Inside the church they were decorating a very big, but somewhat sad-looking christmas tree. There's nothing like a real Nova Scotian spruce or pine.
We saw the town crier telling of upcoming events, and found an amazing photographer selling pics. http://www.christiangilles.com/photo2286671.html
We then followed the tram route around the center town, enjoying the many stone buildings and small churches. We made a stop at a place called the arts center. It used to be the University of Canterbury. The old stone buildings have now been turned into artists' studios and retail shops selling handicrafts (lots of wool products!), and the grounds are for the public to wander. It is lovely! http://www.artscentre.org.nz/venues-for-hire/default.asp
Next stop was a quick peek at the Canterbury museum, where we saw the Paua Shell house, run by this cute little old Kiwi couple who collected and polished Paua shells, and then hung them on their walls. It was kind of crazy, and very kitsch, but hilarious. I don't think Paul was impressed.
We walked around the botanic gardens, enjoying the beautiful and fragrant rose garden, the rhododendrons, magnolias and the very, extremely tall trees. Then we wandered through some of the more commercial parts of the city, and settled on dinner at a Mexican restaurant before heading back for the night. New Zealand is a very expensive place to visit. The average cost of a main in a restaurant seems to be in the $20-30 range. Ouch!
November 26:
We left Christchurch via highway 73 and then 76. We headed towards Lake Tekapo and the Mountains. I love driving through the rolling green hills with sheep grazing on the sides.
The views of the mountains, as you drive through the green hills with lupins on the roadside and pretty yellow flowers in the foreground are amazing.
Lake Tekapo is a crazy turquoise colour, so that it doesn't seem to fit in the outdoor landscape. We escaped the hordes on the tour buses by climbing to the observatory. It was a steep climb, but very worth it for the views.
Back at the bottom we tried to get the classic shot of the church of the Good Shepherd with the lake in the background, though the constant stream of tourists off of the buses made it difficult.
The church is a little stone church erected in the 1930's and still in use today. It has the most spectacular view of the lake, and is, unsurprisingly, the most popular place for weddings in New Zealand.
From the lake we drove by the beautiful Lake Pukaki to our accommodation, just
outside of the town of Twizel. We stayed at a little B&B called Omahau Downs for the night. The accommodation was nice, but unobstructed views out our bedroom towards the snow-capped mountains were incredible. Twizel was a blah little town, made of pre-fabbed houses in a circle. But the people seemed really nice. Apparently everyone in the town was employed in the making of Lord of the Rings for one of the battle scenes. Cool.
November 27:
We started the day with an amazing breakfast, complete with cute baby and dog for entertainment, and the mountains in the distance. Then we drove to Mount Cook (Aoraki Cook in Maori). The views driving towards the mountain, with the blue-green Lake Pukaki in the foreground, were excellent.
At the mountain, we almost couldn't get out of the car, the winds were so strong. However, we got out, got sunscreened, and did a tramp into the Hooker Valley.
It was about 1.5 hours each way, though with the hurricane-force winds, it was longer on the way there than on the way back.
We walked past two glaciers, and faced Mount Cook for much of the walk. At the end of the walk, you are beside the lake at the base of Aoraki Cook, and looking at the glacier at the mountain's base. There were little green-blue icebergs floating in the lake, but the wind was so strong that we couldn't stay long. It was actually blowing me up the hills to the side of us, and we had to turn away from the spray that was almost constantly being blown off of the lake.
The scariest bit was crossing a plank bridge when the wind was blowing so madly. Fortunately, it was a suspension bridge with really thick cables, and good handrails!
With the wind, it actually made one of the more fun and memorable bush walks we've done.
From Mount Cook we drove to Queenstown. It was a pretty direct drive, with stops only to take some pictures. I feel like I've been through all ten Canadian Provinces today.
We've had the craggy moonscape-like rocks of Newfoundland, the rolling green hills with Lupins of Nova Scotia and rolling farms of PEI, to the flat green farmland of Ontario, the mountains of Alberta, and the water surrounded by mountains of British Columbia in Queenstown. We even passed brown flat farming areas, though they wouldn't have passed for Saskatchewan. And, of course, there were sheep, sheep, and more sheep (and some cows and deer that they farm for venison). I love the sheep! I particularly love seeing them graze on the green rolling hills, with the yellow flowers and mountains in the background. Can't get much more Kiwi than that. Also amazing on the trip were the lupins. They seem to come in coral, pink, purple, white and yellow. We drove through one area today that had fields of pink and purple lupins that were so dense that you couldn't see any green underneath them. I know that they are weeds, but I love how pretty they are and how lovely they smell. In several areas they are taking over the riverbeds, and so the dry beds are covered with pretty purple and pink lupins.
In Queenstown, it was raining. Too bad, because the latter part of the drive was through some really nice vineyards (with sheep grazing between the rows of vines). Town exploring to come later.
November 28:
Queensland exploring today. Our B&B has a lovely group breakfast, and we chatted with an 85-year old-couple from the States who were still really sharp and very up on current events.
We walked into town, and when I say walked, I mean that we tried not to fall down the really steep hill. At least, the views from the top are excellent, and it was a beautiful day. We hit a Saturday arts market, where the local crafts were quite good, though a bit pricey. Then we walked along the waterfront. The water is so clear! We took a gondola up the hill behind Queenstown to a lookout. The ride up gives views in every direction...spectacular!
The Remarkables are a mountain range across from the town and they dominate almost every town view. On top of the hill, you appreciate the lake and its finger-like harbours better, with a view across to the Remarkables.
We did a short hike through alpine forest to get different view-points, and then hung out at the top with a drink, to enjoy the views.
Next stop was the Bird Conservation Center. It was a lovely 5-acre park, converted
from an old garbage dump, and is now home to several types of New Zealand birds either endangered or convalescing. I really liked the Kea - a dark green parrot native to Southern New Zealand, and used to cold temperatures. My favorite bit, though, was seeing a Kiwi. They are housed under infrared lighting because they don't see red, so it's dark for them. Makes it a bit difficult to see the birds, but you mainly see their bums anyway, while they forage for food. We saw a females who had just laid an egg 3 days before that was 1/4 her size! Ouch. The male was incubating, and will apparently sit in the dark for 23 hours a day for 3 months.
We grabbed lunch at a cute little cafe, wandered the town - very touristy, and reminiscent of a western American ski resort town, but I love the stone architecture. We headed up the hill for some afternoon R&R, and then masochistically went back down the hill for dinner. We then found some fudge at the most amazing-smelling sweet shop and headed back to our room to indulge and watch some movies.
November 29:
Today we had a great day with Ernie and Ellie, a couple we met at our B&B. They are 85 and still traveling, but don't have a car, so we invited them to come along with us to Glenorchy.
The drive to Glenorchy was
beautiful. Winding road along water, with snow-capped mountains in the background.
Glenorchy was a cute lake-side town. We all enjoyed the view from the waterfront.
From Glenorchy we went to a little village (about 5 houses) called Kinloch. It mainly exists as the jumping-off point for the Routeburn track, one of New Zealand's famous walking tracks.
We had a lovely lunch with Ernie and Ellie, and heard about their interesting histories. Ernie escaped Nazi Germany to Shanghai, and eventually emigrated to the States, where he got a degree, and MBA, and became "a dairy man", in his own words. Ellie grew up fatherless in the depression, and managed to put herself through university in the marine corps. Then she became an oral historian, recording histories of many Americans. We were so impressed that this couple was still active. After New Zealand, they were heading on a cruise across the south Pacific back to Los Angeles. They made my week.
We stopped to take lots of pictures on the way back to town, as the sheep seemed to be posing specifically for us.
They certainly stare intently when you get out of the car.
Back in town, we did an easy supper and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening reading.
