Hi all,
Christchurch definitely gives away New Zealand's previous status as an English colony. It left me with mixed feelings as I found it very familiar but at the same time not quite. Anyway, we arrived late one afternoon to find the whole town out on the streets, carrying picnic baskets, stoles and rugs. Tom had been telling me how the city was pretty but really quiet, with not much happening there. Yeah, right! Now we wondered what was causing the massive exodus we were witnessing and the answer was simple: despite it being mid November, the city was having it's Christmas Concert in the Park. It appeared as if attendance was mandatory, and even the receptionist of our hostel has closed reception early without warning. We arrived to be faced with two options: either we broke in to our hostel (which had a code locked door and no one on sight) or we tried other hostel (which in all likeness would also be closed early). Hum... We eventually found out a note with our name and the code to the door, just as Tom was getting ready for some Rambo action.
We stayed in Christchurch for long enough to enjoy its terraced cafes in the sun and do some shopping. After a couple of days we decided to rent a car and take a scenic route over a few days down to Queenstown. For me this was a novelty in many ways. Firstly, despite living in London I had never actually driven there: several near-death experiences on my bicycle told me the time wasn't quite ripe yet. Secondly, this was a car with automatic gears and Tom was a bit worried when I told me it made me feel like I was driving a bumper car. Finally and most distressfuly the screen wiper and the signaling sticks were the wrong way around. I can't tell you how many times we turn the wipers on before making a curve! Surprisingly enough, it all went well, except for when when I had a close shave with a parked car.
Tom suggested we should pay a visit to Lake Tekapo: he'd been there in the winter time seven years ago. The landscape greeting us now was very different from the one I saw in his old photos. The mountains surrounding the lake are still very impressive despite having much less snow. Instead we found this colourful wild flowers all over the regions and in particular around the lake, providing the perfect contrast in Tom's pictures.
The lake at sunset...
...and at dawn (well, maybe not quite at dawn, actually it was more like mid-morning)...
... and with the Church of the Good Shepherd in the background.
Here's the photographer in action!
We spent one night there, taking in the atmosphere and enjoying the wonderful views. The hostel we stayed in was just by the lake and and a great view from the sitting room. It also had a really friendly cat, but for some reason I'm not allowed to put her photo up (something about me exceeding the number of pet photos on the blog already...). Humph.
We drove away from Tekapo feeling quite pleased with the views when we stumbled into the even more amazing Lake Pukaki. The water there had this ice blue colour which rendered it an absolutely artificial feeling. It turns out that's the result of glaciers finely griding the rock they slide on and then releasing the resulting particles into the Lake. They reflect the light in a different way than water alone, giving the Lake its milky appearance. Beautiful!
To make the photos even better, the lake features Mount Cook as its backdrop. Unfortunately we did not have time to have a closer look at this mighty mountain but hey, we must leave something left to do for our next around the world trip ;-)
We then made our way to Queenstown, our base for the exploration of the Milford Sound and the Routeburn Trek. But that's another story...
Beijinhos,
Vania
Christchurch definitely gives away New Zealand's previous status as an English colony. It left me with mixed feelings as I found it very familiar but at the same time not quite. Anyway, we arrived late one afternoon to find the whole town out on the streets, carrying picnic baskets, stoles and rugs. Tom had been telling me how the city was pretty but really quiet, with not much happening there. Yeah, right! Now we wondered what was causing the massive exodus we were witnessing and the answer was simple: despite it being mid November, the city was having it's Christmas Concert in the Park. It appeared as if attendance was mandatory, and even the receptionist of our hostel has closed reception early without warning. We arrived to be faced with two options: either we broke in to our hostel (which had a code locked door and no one on sight) or we tried other hostel (which in all likeness would also be closed early). Hum... We eventually found out a note with our name and the code to the door, just as Tom was getting ready for some Rambo action.
We stayed in Christchurch for long enough to enjoy its terraced cafes in the sun and do some shopping. After a couple of days we decided to rent a car and take a scenic route over a few days down to Queenstown. For me this was a novelty in many ways. Firstly, despite living in London I had never actually driven there: several near-death experiences on my bicycle told me the time wasn't quite ripe yet. Secondly, this was a car with automatic gears and Tom was a bit worried when I told me it made me feel like I was driving a bumper car. Finally and most distressfuly the screen wiper and the signaling sticks were the wrong way around. I can't tell you how many times we turn the wipers on before making a curve! Surprisingly enough, it all went well, except for when when I had a close shave with a parked car.
Tom suggested we should pay a visit to Lake Tekapo: he'd been there in the winter time seven years ago. The landscape greeting us now was very different from the one I saw in his old photos. The mountains surrounding the lake are still very impressive despite having much less snow. Instead we found this colourful wild flowers all over the regions and in particular around the lake, providing the perfect contrast in Tom's pictures.
The lake at sunset...
...and at dawn (well, maybe not quite at dawn, actually it was more like mid-morning)...
... and with the Church of the Good Shepherd in the background.
Here's the photographer in action!
We spent one night there, taking in the atmosphere and enjoying the wonderful views. The hostel we stayed in was just by the lake and and a great view from the sitting room. It also had a really friendly cat, but for some reason I'm not allowed to put her photo up (something about me exceeding the number of pet photos on the blog already...). Humph.
We drove away from Tekapo feeling quite pleased with the views when we stumbled into the even more amazing Lake Pukaki. The water there had this ice blue colour which rendered it an absolutely artificial feeling. It turns out that's the result of glaciers finely griding the rock they slide on and then releasing the resulting particles into the Lake. They reflect the light in a different way than water alone, giving the Lake its milky appearance. Beautiful!
To make the photos even better, the lake features Mount Cook as its backdrop. Unfortunately we did not have time to have a closer look at this mighty mountain but hey, we must leave something left to do for our next around the world trip ;-)
We then made our way to Queenstown, our base for the exploration of the Milford Sound and the Routeburn Trek. But that's another story...
Beijinhos,
Vania
2 comments:
It's an awful day here in London.. on one hand it's nice that you're updating your blog so much as it gives something to dream about... on the other, I'm regretting the blog slightly as getting mad with jealousy (only joking, keep up the good work!)
See you've managed to put videos in your blog, have to show me how to do it when you get back!
Which is now quite soon isn't it? 10 weeks or something? Can't believe it!
hi maya, thanks for setting up the blog, it was a good idea i agree (even if updating it means sometimes having to listen to beyonce playing endlessly in the internet cafe)!
have a good christmas and see you in early march time!
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