Our NZ South Island exploration had us driving north back past the beautiful Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown and the Remarkables Mountain Range and then a road that goes up over the Crown Ridge Mountains…another pretty intense drive on a road that covered great altitudes in a short span…meaning A LOT of hairpin turns while driving at what felt like a 45 degree angle! At the summit we stopped at a spectacular overlook enjoying our last view of Queenstown and surrounds. I offered to take a photo of a family so they could all be in the photo (very common offering while traveling!) and could easily tell they weren’t kiwis (meaning New Zealanders), and it turns out they are from Durham, CT!!! They’re living in Canberra for a few years working for DEA in the US Embassy and loving their Aussie life! They then took our photo!!
Our destination was Wanaka, another lovely town on a beautiful lake surrounded by snow-peaked mountains. It’s kinda’ a mini Queenstown…a bit more subdued but a young and active town. Our arrival day was warm and beautiful with clear skies…Billy had his heart set on Para-Gliding and it was perfect weather so we barely checked into our hotel before we rushed off for his afternoon adventure!!
Per Billy…And an adventure it was…as Rob (my pilot on the tandem flight) and I stepped off the grassy canyon rim (actually “ran” off) the parachute filled with air and up we lifted! It was not the parachuting down sensation I had sort of expected. The weather and mountain slopes were prefect for good “thermals” (rising warm air streams) and we rode them up and down like floating on a cloud, while enjoying incredible vistas of the nearby lake and mountains. It was a spectacular flight hopping over the ridges, flying close to the waterfalls, and Rob letting me “fly” the chute. After about a 20 minute flight, Rob gave me a final “roller coaster” ride and then we landed right in the field next to the car. Awesome!
Our major activity of our next day in Wanaka was a round of golf… this time without the kangaroos! The course was nice but the views of the lake and the snow-capped mountains were spectacular. And the golf wasn’t too bad either…easier to focus without kangaroos! After Carol finished talking to a grounds keeper on the 17th green for 10 minutes, she nonchalantly made an uphill 40 foot putt!!!
On our last day in Wanaka, we did some great hiking along a river that outflows Lake Wanaka. We were amazed at how clear the waters were…if you dropped a quarter, I think you could easily find it!! After our hike we totally enjoyed some relaxation and views at the lake beach for a while.
It was a beautiful drive to Aoraki/Mt. Cook past seemingly thousands of sheep and cows and millions of my favorite roadside (weeds) flowers, the lupines!! We also drove through the Lindis Pass, the highest highway elevation point in the South Island…an area of large dry pretty desolate hillsides…but striking scenery.
As we approached Aoraki/Mt. Cook, we passed a truly incredible colored Lake Pukuki! We learned that the “blazing turquoise” color of the lake is due to the “rock flour” in the water that was created when the lake’s floor was gouged out by a stony glacier and that sediment now refracts the sunlight and creates the brilliant color!!! WOW! And with a backdrop of Aoraki/Mt. Cook and other snow-capped mountains…double WOW!!…I know…it doesn’t look real!!!
Aoraki/Mt. Cook is New Zealand’s largest mountain, at over 12,000 feet, and it is the centerpiece of the Southern Alps, a mountain range that runs the length of the South Island. (Aoraki means “cloud piercer” in Maori, the native inhabitants of New Zealand.) Something like 22 of NZ’s 24 highest mountains are in this mountain range, and it is a beautiful sight! Driving towards Aoraki/Mt. Cook (and the adjacent peaks) on a beautiful warm and nearly cloudless day was amazing…just spectacular!
The next day we went for a hike (or what they call “tramp”) on the Hooker Valley Track (or trail). This is a 3-4 hour hike over several suspension swing bridges and ends up at the Hooker Lake with lots of icebergs and the Hooker Glacier feeding into it. Look carefully to see the glacier as it’s kinda’ black from all the rocks and debris (called “moraine”) that cover it as it moves slowly. And of course, the backdrop to all of this is a closer view of the majestic Aoraki/Mt. Cook! As we hiked out, we passed two guys with snowboards in their packs…they were going to hike up some peaks, camp overnight, and snowboard down the next day!!!
Our drive from Aoraki/Mt. Cook to Christchurch would take about 5 hours, but it was broken up by a long stop at Lake Tekapo, which is another lake with that blazing turquoise blue color (for the same reason)! More roadside lupine flowers, rolling hillsides, sheep and cows made up most of the remaining scenery…you can definitely get “scenery numb” from so much repeating beauty!
Christchurch is a lovely city still very much suffering from the drastic earthquakes of 2010 and 2011. The last earthquake was February 2011, when 181 people were killed. It was really amazing to drive around the CBD (Central Business District) and see so many empty lots where buildings have collapsed and cleared away, and other places where the rubble remains. Many downtown streets are still closed. Several churches and historic buildings are in a state of major repair, and many buildings remain, condemned, waiting for demolition. We saw a theatre, and you can see most of the seating but half the building is gone… It will take a long time, but Christchurch will rebuild and be renewed.
We were amazed by all of it and went to the new “Re:Start” shopping district and the newly opened “Quake City” Museum. The Museum explored the geology of Christchurch and it’s history of earthquakes, and explained the occurrence of “liquefaction” when the earth becomes quicksand-like. It also had videos of people describing their experience during the earthquake, and it even had a video of the earthquake as it happened on a city street.
Amidst the destruction in the CBD, was also the gorgeous Christchurch Botanic Gardens which survived with little damage, and we so enjoyed our early evening stroll through the beautiful park.
Our last night in Christchurch was Christmas Eve. We went to dinner at the “Astro Lounge” a cool little bar/restaurant in downtown Christchurch, and as we were leaving someone stopped me and said “remember me?”…I looked puzzled, and he reminded me that they were from Slovakia and had taken our photo at Aoraki/Mt. Cook! Funny, how you can run into travelers you met hundreds of miles away!
Since it was Christmas Eve in Christchurch, we thought it was only appropriate that we attend midnight mass…and we did!!
Our wonderful time on New Zealand’s spectacular South Island was over…time to fly off to explore the North Island!!