I was up early to catch the intercity bus (the nz version of a national express bus) to Twizel as the Kiwi Experience bus would have arrive after the shuttle bus had already left. I did my shopping for mount cook in the supermarket and then sat at the bus stop with a book. It's surprising how quickly time passes when you're engrossed in a good book.
On the way up, since it was just me in the coach, the driver stopped a couple of times to let me get some photos of the mountain.
Once we'd got to Mount Cook village he gave me a quick tour around and then dropped me at the hostel. I had some lunch and then went off and did two walks in the afternoon. The first one I did was called the governors bush walk and it went up the hill to the side of the village through the forest and then down to a small stream, although I'm sure when the snow is melting it is a raging torent.
The second walk I did was a longer walk to Kea Point which overlooks a small lake and has views to the Mount Cook behind. As you can see from the photo I was pretty sweaty by the time I got to the end as it was very warm! I got chatting to this lovely French girl and we chatted all the way back to the village. I really like meeting people and finding out about their life. And it definitely made the walk back seem much shorter than it was.
Tea!
Clouds clearing
Reflections in the lake
Inside the cardboard cathedral
Re:start mall.
Ready to make a getaway
Hagglund rid.
Penguin
England or New Zealand?
View out of the window.
Listening to the whales
Kea Point walk
I had dinner at the hostel but didn't fancy sitting there the whole evening. I wanted to watch the sunset but it was too cloudy so instead I walked up to the Old Mountaineers cafe for a New Zealand style apple crumble and a pot of tea. I stayed there with my book until I was closing time.
I rang grandad whilst I was there and a woman came up to me really concerned I was crying. Instead my shoulders were just shaking from laughing down the phone with grandad!
Luckily I'd brought my head torch with me to the cafe as it turns out a village inside a national park doesn't have any street lights!
Day 159: Mount Cook and then to Lake Tekapo
I woke up early to try and see the sunrise and the colours change across Mount Cook but the cloud from last night hadn't moved yet.
My first stop today was at the DoC centre to check out the forecasted weather conditions and to read the Maori story behind Mount Cook or Aoraki as it is known as traditionally. Aoraki and his brothers came down from the sky to meet the earth mother but when they tried to go home the spell didn't work and they and their waka (boat) over the years turned to stone. Aoraki and his brothers became the mountains and their waka became the South Island.
Today I walked the Hooker Valley track. I was so glad I had my waterproof this morning to act as a wind breaker as the sun wasn't out and there was a chilly wind blowing. Part of the track was being maintained and rather than closing it so the work could be down like would properly happen at home, you just waited for one of the workmen to call you over and then you stepped around the digger!
When I arrive at the end I was shocked to see icebergs! Had I thought about it it makes sense for their to be icebergs floating in the terminal lake of a glacier but I hadn't though about it and so I was pleased.
Mini iceberg
There was still no sign of the mountains and so I decided to just sit and wait. I had nothing to get back for apart from lunch and I had enough snacks with me to keep me going so I waited to see if the cloud burnt up.
After an hour of waiting I was given my first tantalising glimpses of the mountain and another half an hour later the clouds had completely burnt up and my patience was rewarded with a stunning view. I didn't think it was possible but I feel in love with that mountain! I couldn't take my eyes off him. He was such a handsome mountain (sorry will!).
I walked back along the path back to the hostel. I am actually so glad it was cloudy this morning as having the mountain revealed as the clouds cleared was far more special than being able to see it for most of the walk and so it not being as special when you get there.
I had a late lunch back at the hostel and a shower before catching the shuttle bus to Lake Tekapo. I thought I was special yesterday when he stopped to let me take photos but apparently he does that do everyone! The lake was so calm as we drove past, the reflections of the mountains in it were beautiful.
Lake Tekapo was pretty nice but the hostel I stayed in had the smallest dorm room and kitchen I've ever seen. The dorm room fitted in two bunk beds but that was it, there was no where to put your bags, and in the kitchen you were constantly bumping into people as you tried to cook.
Lake Tekapo is famed for its beautiful skies so obviously I went outside for a look for a while.
Day 160: To Christchurch
We left Lake Tekapo and stopped in a small town called Geraldine on the way to Christchurch. There was a church fete going on so I wondered around that and had a delicious bacon sandwich and bought myself some organic local honey yoghurt to have for breakfast tomorrow.
I checked in to the yha and had lunch before going through a walk of the CBD, well what's left of it. After the earthquake nearly 70% of the buildings either collapsed or have been knocked down as they are no longer safe. One of the most poignant reminder of the earthquake was the old cathedral. It's still in its crumbled state whilst it's future is being discussed. I then walked to Latimer Square where a monument to the old cathedral spire has been erected. I also saw my first egg. These eggs are about a meter high on a platform and are painted. They are all over the city. Christchurch is full of artwork like this. Guess they are trying to brighten the place up and give it a more upbeat feel.
Next I went to the new cardboard cathedral. It's an absolutely stunning building. It's a surprisingly big space and Is so light. Next door was the 184 chairs to commemorate all those who lost their lives.
I then headed to the physics rooms. Turns out it's a modern art exhibition which I didn't understand!
I then wandered around the re:start mall looking in all the shops. The mall is made out of brightly coloured painted old shipping containers. Amongst this is the quake experience, an exhibition showing photos and videos shaing people people's experiences of the earthquake and the future Christchurch. They have really used what has happened to plan an amazing new city centre. I can't imagine what people went through in the quakes, even having listened to people stories you can't get your head around what these people went through.
Once I'd finished in the city centre I went back to the hostel to do my washing (super fun I know) and had dinner. I got chatting to one of the girls in my dorm and got chatting to her and managed to persuade her to come to the local pub with me to watch the rugby. Was a nice night.
Got back and spoke to Will for his birthday before bed.
Day 161: Christchurch
In the morning I got up and took the penguin shuttle to the International Antarctic Centre. Luckily someone had told me of a website you could book this through which made the ticket half price!
First I went into the snow storm room with a jacket on and rubber shoes over my flip flops. The room was at -8C and once the 'blizzard' started the wind got up to 45km/h and with the wind chill factor the temperature plummeted to -18C. Pretty cold!
Next I went outside for a ride on a hagglund, a Swidish all terrain vehicle that they used in the Antarctic. It can go up 45degree hills (which we did), cross 1.9m cravases (we crossed a 1.4m gap) and is an aquatic vehicle (so we swam threw a 3m deep pond). Pretty good fun!
I went back in side and watched the little lie penguins being fed. That bred isn't native to Antarctica but all the birds there are rescue birds who have a disability and so cannot be released into the wild. Some are blind, some have paralysed limbs and one is afraid of the water!
Next I watch the 4D movie about an Antarctic voyage and then had a look around the rest of the centre. Whilst waiting for the shuttle bus back I had a very delicious (food mention alert) warm cheese scone. I'm going to need to start making those when I'm at home.
I had my lunch back at the hostel and then had a very brief look in the Canterbury museum. I think I maybe all museumed out for a while as I couldn't bring myself to walk around all the exhibitions. Instead I wandered through the different areas of the botanic gardens. Unfortunately the conservatories were closed (earthquake damage) but the rose gardens were really pretty and it was nice walking along the banks of the River Avon. I can totally see why Christchurch is the garden city and with all the oak trees that have been planted an the conkers on the floor I can see why it's call the most English city outside of England. Looking at the river and the ducks I could easily have been walking through Crane Park.
After getting a bit too cold from the breeze that had picked up to stay in the park and continue reading my book I went to the supermarket. Back at the hostel I then made an epic chilli con carni! So proud of it. And I'd bought a treacle sponge pudding to microwave which finished off my dinner amazingly. Just thought if add this in in case you were wondering (dad) about my food!
I watched an old film on TV before going to bed.
Day 162: Transalpine Railway
My morning didn't start too well as the railway shuttle service forgot to pick me up. Twice! I'd been standing outside the hostel for 50 minutes when the bus turned up. And I still got to the train station 20 minutes early for the train! So even if they had picked me up on time I still would have been hanging around for a long time somewhere.
I got on the transalpine railway and of all the people I could have had sitting next to me I had a girl who was starting her kiwi experience trip today! I tried to give her lots of good advice about things to do down the west coast.
The train journey was 230km each way through stunning scenery and there was an audio commentary to listen to on the headsets whilst we went along so you knew what you were looking at. One of the tunnels at Arthur's pass was closed for safety reasons so we all piled off the train, onto coaches and drove around the tunnel and the train met us on the other side.
Getting back on the train at Arthur's pass
I had 45 minutes in Greymouth so I went for a walk around the town and along by the waterfront since I didn't get to see the waterfront last time I was here.
On the train back my seat was on the other side of the train so I got to see a differen view on the way back.
It was a preety long day, especially as there was lots of track work on route so we arrived back an hour later than planned so I'm so glad I had left over chilli from last night as I was feeling too tired to cook. All that sitting on a train really takes it out of you. I sat watching the tv on the sofas chilling out and then spoke to mum, dad and C on Skype. I totally did a great job of reassuring mum I'm being safe after she watched the video of the canyon swing. And the fact I was wearing my cardigan inside out (which she noticed) obviously helped me convey the whole responsible thing!
Day 163: Kaikoura
After battling through the traffic and roadworks, with a bus that clearly wasn't a fan of most of the gears it had, we left Christchurch and off up the coast through the rain to Kaikoura.
As we drove along the Paciffic coast we saw dusky dolphins jumping and splashing out in the distance which was really cool. All the jumping and tail splashing is part of their hunting routine so that was pretty cool to watch.
We had a very rushed check in before heading down to the whale watching place. The sky was blue and the sea was still. It was definitely the calm before the storm!
We got on the boat and the narator was so funny and informative. She asked us to put our seat belts on and everyone was scrammbling around looking for theirs. Turns out this was her 'English test' to see how many people were listening and understood her!
The boat was pretty fast and we raced along, stopped so we could stand outside whilst the captain put the hydrophone in the watch to see of he could detect the sound of the whale and then we raced off in the direction I f the whale and then stopped and relegated it again.
Our spotter caught sight of a spout of water coming out of the whale's blowhole but the weather was getting worse and the swell was increasing so the captain pulled the plug and we went back without seeing him. So seeing a whale, and especially it's tail, is still on my bucket list. The company was pretty good about the whole situation and gave us an 80% refund which was pretty nice of them.
Luckily the rain didn't start until we were back on 'dry' land and we ended up hiding out in the supermarket whilst the hail fell and fell and fell. That stopped but we still then had to walk back in the rain. Turns out flip flops, a hill and rain do not combine very well. Had to walk barefoot for most of it! Basically looked liked of had a shower fully clothed when I got back so I had a proper shower to warm myself up and then sat infront of the fire whilst eating dinner.
The hostel was basically another house in the owners garden and upstairs there was an amazing room with one wall a glass door out to the balcony with sea views. If that was my house I'd be very happy. The room was full of sofas and there was a hard drive full of movies an TV programs so most of the bus found themselves a comfy spot and we had a movie marathon night.
No comments:
Post a Comment