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Published: March 23rd 2010
Moi in Christchurch, NZ.
I double dog dare you to check mate me!Day 84: Friday, February 19th, 2010
Lake Ohau to
Christchurch:
Per Contiki brochure: "If heights don't scare you (we saw you bungee jump two days ago), then why not take the optin of a spectacular glacier flight over Mt. Cook? Later, we'll head through the MacKenzie country, home to the sheep industry to Christchurch where you may join us for an end-of-tour, we-must-keep-in-touch-what-tour-are-you-taking-next, dinner."
We left Lake Ohau around 8am and headed towards the Bridge of Doom. We all cheered when Mikey gunned it and went over it without kicking us all off. That's when Emmo and Mikey started laughing. They had been pulling our legs yesterday, there was nothing wrong with the bridge. They played it well, I even video taped the damn thing going over the bridge. Such a drama queen am I! Well done guys 😊
We stop and take some pictures of
Mount Cook it was a beautiful day and Emmo and Mikey said that they had never seen it so clear. It was clear enough that they were going to do the next/last excursion which was a plane ride over the area. They dropped those of us not going at the town of
Tekapo Church of the Good Shepherd
I always have the urge to build the "Church of the Naughty Cattleman" next door to the Shepherd ones. and we hung there for about an hour and a half. The bus pulled up and we got on and heard about the amazing views that they had seen (except Mikey and Emmo- there weren't enough seats for them so they missed out- took one for the team!) We only drove around the corner and got off again to see the
Church of the Good Shepherd. It's a cute little stone church that has been there for about 75 years. I've seen amazing postcards and pictures of the place but due to the time of day and the tourists, my shots didn't come anywhere close to those amazing shots. Oh well.
We then stop at the town of
Geraldine for lunch and while there, Alex and I find a wall in this bakery where people have written their favorite quote. I ask if we can write something and they hand us a marker. Mine was Mom's favorite quote from M*A*S*H*, "Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice, pull down your pants and slide on the ice." Alex did a nice one as well, "Never let your soul die of thirst." So, if you're even in Geraldine, go to the Four Peaks Plaza and check
out the wall at the bakery there.
Back on the bus, we all fill out the Contiki surveys as this is technically the last day of the tour. Some are leaving tonight, most of us fly out tomorrow. We pull into Christchurch and we're back at the Bealy's hotel. After some room changing, I'm with Becky and American Nicole. Tara and Jen are flying out that night and Alex is flying out very early in the morning and booked a hotel near the airport. Our little gang decides to do one more dinner together so myself, Alex, Tara, Jen, Jess, Erin and Becky all head over to
Wagamama which is the restaurant chain that Jen and Tara work at in England. I get the skinny from Emmo as to where the rest of the group will be after dinner and he tells us the neighborhood, so we'll meet up/say goodbye to everyone else then. So, dinner at Wagamama was very good and afterwards we all sit in a park and talk for a bit until it's time for Jen, Alex and Tara to grab a taxi and head to the airport/hotel (they had been dragging their suitcases around Christchurch).
Once again, sad to say goodbye to new friends- I'm getting used to it though.
We wave goodbye and then we walk towards the neighborhood where the rest of the Contikiers will be going. We hang in that area (can't remember the name) until about 10 pm when we decide they either aren't showing up or we've missed them. So, we get a taxi back to the hotel and start packing up (sometimes that feels like that's all I ever do). I have a shuttle coming in the morning to take me to the airport and everyone else is leaving at various points thru out the day. Nicole came into the room about 30 minutes after Becky and I got back and it ends up that the rest of the group never made it to that neighborhood bar, the restaurant where they ate had a bar and they all stayed there. So, didn't get a chance to say goodbye to a lot of people, thank goodness for Facebook though!
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Chris
non-member comment
You jumped the King on a giant Chess board?
Bye, everyone!! See you on Faceb... oh, never mind.