Blogs from Lake Tekapo, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 4

Two superlative days, but tiring. We drove south from Blenheim under clearing skies, stopping at the Seal Colony and Kaikoura, where the mountain views were immaculately superb. The countryside, surprisingly for me, was covered in dried grassland, apart from where fields were being watered for cows or sheep to graze. After Kaikoura, we diverted inland on a lonely road to Waiau, where we had tea/beer in an English country garden surrounded by mombretias(?), dahlias and petunias. (The South Island vegetation is less exotic than North Island's). Mary wanted to buy the hotel attached to the garden. Eventually, after a long sunny drive south, we reached Christchurch, and our hotel in Cathedral Square. We looked like country bumpkins entering a posh hotel in tee shirts and shorts! But we brazened it out and went off to enjoy ... read more

We headed back to Christchurch and had a beautiful view of Mt Cook on the way.... read more

October, 31 - Nov 2 Don't be alarmed by the title of this entry. We aren't depressed - no work, lie-ins, amazing experiences - we have no reason to be blue. Unlike Lake Tekapo. The lake is fed by glacial melt waters that contain finely ground rock particles which give it the most amazing colours - something to do with refraction of the light. The lake contains the bluest water we have ever seen that seems to change hue depending on the light. It looks almost opaque, like water in a jar that is used to rinse brushes coated in blue paint. The journey to Tekapo was quite eventful as our bus had a bit of a breakdown. Thankfully this happened at a rest stop and not on the road in the middle of nowhere with ... read more

Speed & Water!! Day 5: The day was perfect - crisp and cold with fresh snow on the Remarkables. We rug up and join a happy noisy netball team from Canberrra for a jetboat ride in the upper Shooter Valley. We climb past the ski fields at Coronet Peak (still open) and on a road that is SCARY - six years in building the road is a gravel rollercoaster that hugs the sides of the mountains winding about an hour to the Shooter Valley - once a thriving gold town. The netball team screams the whole way. The jet boats are the latest - low profile and very fast - we sit in the front zooming over the crystal clear waters and gravel - Peter is very happy. We fly past the location from Lord of ... read more

I had planned a little road trip for Monday morning with some friends to go snow boarding at Mount Dobson. My alarm clock woke me up way earlier then I am used to (it was 8:30 am). I pulled back the curtains to see a beautiful sunny morning. But after further investigation we discovered Mt Dobson was closed. I was bummed because I really wanted to go but I knew I would go soon. That afternoon at work a few of the staff were talking about snowboarding on Wednesday. Then my buddy Steve, who was just driving through Tekapo, dropped in at work. He was off to Wanaka, but would be back on Tuesday night so he could join us on the slopes Wednesday. By the end of my shift we had several people recruited for ... read more