Christchurch and Beyond
Bright and early the next morning, we are on the road again, this time touring through beautiful countryside and we get to glimpse our first sighting of snow!
We keep moving and come to a seal colony and there are plenty of them frolicking in the waters alongside the road. There are seal pups there too.
As we get closer to Christchurch we come across Lupins growing on the roadside. These are very pretty and the bus stopped so that we can get a closer look and get some photos too.
As we continue we go through the tunnel in the mountain. The tunnel we went through is right alongside the road. Interesting.
We finally arrive in Christchurch and go to the International Antarctic Centre.
This is a fun activity. There is a room set aside that is a mock up of how it feels like to be at the Antarctic. The room is minus 5 degrees. We are fitted out with thick parkas and covers for our shoes, so that we won’t slip on the ice and then we venture into the room. Whilst we are in there, there is a huge fan started up and it resembles an Antarctic blizzard. Brrr. Very icy. We also get to ‘play’ with some of the props in there too. We were chilled through when we came out.
We finally get to see the City of Christchurch via a tram ride around the city. This was quite interesting. And a good overview of the township.
Then we have some free time to wander around the city. It was good. There is a huge cone-like structure in the centre mall that is the Millennium cone. It is designed to display all the native flora of New Zealand.
Whist in the City centre we had time to inspect the Christchurch Cathedral. Very beautifully designed. But we had to pay to take photos and go through the gift shop to get out. Hmm.
Later that evening we had a Happy Hour in one of our rooms, before going for dinner in the dining room of the Pavilions Hotel where we stayed the night.
Early the next morning we made our way to the Canterbury Plains area. This is of significant interest to Arthur and I as Arthur’s Mum grew up in Fairlie. Her father owned a sheep farm in the area. He also used to fish in the Rakaia river which we needed to cross on the way. We got lots of photos to show Mum what it looks like now as she left there when she was about 12. Also in Fairlie there is a bronze statue of McKenzie and his dog. McKenzie was an infamous sheep rustler.
After leaving Fairlie and we headed to the mountains again. On the way we stopped at the Church of the Good Shepherd. This is set on the edge of Lake Tekapo. Inside the window over the altar, views the lake. I wonder if the congregation heard much of the sermon whilst looking over Lake Tekapo.
As we had to keep moving, we reboarded the bus and start out for Mount Cook.
Mount Cook National Park is such an awesome place. The views were not as good as we would have liked because of cloud cover at first, but while we were there the clouds cleared long enough for us to see Mount Cook and get some excellent photos. There is also a statue of Sir Edmund Hilary there at the Mt Cook Alpine Village.
This is New Zealand’s highest snow capped peaks.
We travel from there around the shore of Lake Pukaki to the town of Twizel and onto Omarama where we stayed for the night at Heritage Gateway Hotel.
