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Published: April 9th 2006
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Hi all, welcome back. After our last entry we still had a couple days to spend in Christchurch, checking out some of the highlights and finally a little bit of the nightlife! As you can see from the pictures we went to the botanical gardens, the museum and a general stroll around town. The english/scottish heritage of the city is evident and only becomes more so as you head to Dunedin. We went out that night in search of an improv comedy show, but when we were dining at The Dux de Lux we met a nice couple from the U.S.A and ended up having a interesting visit with them. We even managed to get a little dancing in and my wallet and I didn't part ways, so all in all a pretty good night. When it came time to leave we decided to catch a bus out of town to avoid a long stretch of suburbia and to gain a few days. It's kind of sad that we're already feeling rushed on our schedule, but who can complain? We got off the bus in Fairlie for a short days ride to Lake Tekapo which is one in a series of
glacial lakes that they use for hydro generation. Like many lakes in B.C. they are a beautiful blue-green from rock flour suspended in the melt water. It was here that we first ran into the teenagers that were to surround us for the next week. The national high school rowing championships were being held down the road in Twizel and due to the huge numbers they were filling up motor camps and hotels for miles around! It might be a sign of my age but sharing a bathroom and kitchen with packs of young punks and punkettes for prolonged periods wears on my patience. The next day had us on our way to Lake Pukaki along a hydro canal maintenance road that was superb! We were traviling through the Mackenzie Basin which is basically a high level plain sorrounded by mountains. Almost no traffic, beautiful scenery and slightly downhill all the way. At the south end of the lake we turned off on our sidetrip to Mount Cook national park. We spent the night at a campsite in Glenntanner instead of making a long day longer by going all the way to Mt Cook. I don't know if Glenntanner was
ever more than it is now but all that is there now is the campsite and a business operating a restaurant/helicopter touring establishment. Like so many places we have seen here, especially in the high country, if tourists disappeared so would they. In the morning we left our gear behind at tyhe campsite and zipped into Mt. Cook on unloaded bikes which was a nice treat, and went on an awesome tramp up Hooker Valley to one of the many glaciers in the park. Not a very strenuous trek but 4 hrs nonetheless and the whole day we were hoping that the cloud cover hiding the mountain peaks most of the time would break up and give us a full view of the range but it didn't happen. The cloud cover did make for some interesting coloration as the sun went into the west though. After a long days activity we crammed into the kitchen with everyone else for supper and then tucked in for the night. We had been storing our food under the fly of our tent all the time and hadn't had any problems with pests, so one of us got a little complacent and left some
cookies in the pocket on our mesh tent wall. Later on that night Vick was awakened by the sound of rustling plastic, but couldn't locate the problem. Sure enough in the morning there was a mouse sized hole chewed in the pocket and the cookies had made a bed time snack for someone else. So one bad habit was quickly corrected. On the same note it is great not having to worry about bears or big cats. You can wander around in the woods in the middle of the night with no real danger. After patching the hole in the tent we backtracked to the highway and made the short trip to Twizel. Lake Ruantaniwha just outside of Twizel was where the rowing competition was taking place so we decided on a day off the bikes to watch and rest up. It's hard for me to imagine taking rowing that seriously as a sport, but they are serious. It was fun to watch all the excitement but because my fantasy baseball league was drafting that afternoon we had to pull up stakes and hustle to our next stop at Omarama where $25 in internet fees later I had a young
but promising squad put together. The next couple of days riding were full of small town pubs, lakes, hills, headwinds and a kitchen full of bugs and mice. There was some primitive maori drawings along the way but much of it was faded or vandalised. Out of the country we came back to the coast at Oamaru. The area consists largely of limestone which the settlers had used to create many beautiful buildings. They're churches are all magnificent. That night we went to view the local blue penguin colony returning from a day at sea to their nests. They are quite small in stature but swim over 100 km a day while feeding. They are one of the most amusing creatures to watch, especially on land, you can't help but smile. We had a great stay that night at the Empire hotel with Free internet, lovely facilities, and a warm bed! A good thing too because our next days would be long ones. A hilly 80 km day got us to Waikouaiti where we had a possum growling at us as we tried to sleep. If you've never seen one they can get to be as big as a medium
sized dog, look like a cross between a racoon and a ferret and have a raspy growl that fades off like they are laughing or sobbing. I also touched my first hedgehog that night by mistake. I was walking back to the tent in the dark when I kicked something soft and round. Surprised at first I found it in the dark and gave it another light kick, thinking it was a childs ball. I bent over to pick it up and to my surprise grabbed a handfull of spikey hedgehog. I managed to contain a girlish squeal and dropped it like a hot potatoe. We both managed to walk away unharmed. Our nexts days ride was fairly short but unfortunately it was up Mt Cargill, in the wind and rain. We spent one hour grinding slowly up the side of the hill before we were treated to the views of the Otago penninsula and a brisk 9 km downhill into Dunedin. We had a short but sweet stay in the second largest city of the south island taking in tours of the Cadbury chocolate factory and the Speight's Brewery among other things. Paige and Keesha your treats are in
the mail ( chocolate not beer ). The weather has been turning on us a little as we head south but we're hoping things come around without any snow before we head back north. We're almost jealous of your spring back home, but not the work schedule. Hope everyone is well, take care.
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Charlotte
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Roses!!!
You know roses are my very favourite. Beautiful pictures. Must say I'm glad it's you guys and not me doing this cycle thing. Would love to see the country. Maybe some day.