COMING SOON HOUSE ADVERTISING ads_leader
Saved: December 29th 2014
Well after a 3 hour flight we arrived in Christchurch and the quaintist little Victorian B & B just outside the centre of town. We decided to head off and meet up with our friend Roger who had flown in a few days earlier and was joining a tour group the following week. There the shock began. Most of Christchurch had been either demolished or had been condemned and was awaiting demolition. It was as though the whole city had been bombed. We had known about the earthquake a year ago but nothing prepared us for the complete devastation we saw. It was heart rending. The people that were still living there were desperately trying to be optimistic and where the shopping mall had once stood a few of the shops had re-opened in shipping containers. All that remained of churches were roofs and steeples that they had removed to re-use before the remainder of the building had been cleared away.
Well after picking up our new car, a little lilac Mazda which as you can imagine was not Terry's idea of a manly car, and feeling a bit chilly with the change in temperature after Aus, the 3 of
us (Roger desperately needing a change of scenery) moved on to Hanmer Springs, a small town in the Alpine Pacific region of the south island surrounded by mountains. In the midst of the small town there was a series of 12 thermal pools and 3 sulphur pools ranging between 28-42 degrees. Ideal for warming us up! As you can imagine we relaxed there for a few hours - lovely. Thankfully now we have moved away from the cold winds of Christchurch the New Zealand summer arrived - much more like it, back to sunny skies.
From there we drove through snow capped mountains to Kaikoura, a town set amongst stunning scenery where we drove down to to the Peninsula and saw beautiful Fur Seals swimming and basking in the sun on the rocks.
After dropping our mate back to his hotel in Christchurch to meet his fellow tour buddies we made our way to Akaroa, another seaside town famous for its Hector Dolphins, the world's smallest and rarest breed. The town was picturesque and we spent a couple of days just relaxing and taking it easy (again).
As some of you may have already noticed Terry has
been spending some time in the last few weeks grooming his facial hair into various styles. Why he is doing this is beyond me but as long as it keeps him amused who am I to interfere.
Heading off through the mountains again, this time in a westerly direction across the south island we arrived at Lake Tekapo, a beautiful bright turquoise lake surrounded by snowy mountains which is a ski resort in the winter. Another amazing view from our wooden hut set right on the edge of the lake called Parkhead (Terry said bears no resemblance to the Park Inn in Shirley). Nowhere have we seen such dramatic scenery. So much to see here I think we may relax for a few days before moving further west.
COMING SOON HOUSE ADVERTISING ads_leader_blog_bottom
Tot: 0.105s; Tpl: 0.018s; cc: 5; qc: 48; dbt: 0.0758s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Kelly
non-member comment
Now do you get it
Now do you understand why I kept saying this was the most beautiful country in the world. It all looks like a Hollywood backdrop. GORGEOUS!!