Christchurch

We arrived in town Thursday and had a quick visit to the cardboard cathedral (now called the Transitional Cathedral) before going to check into our hotel. We were lucky because one of the volunteers who works in the church was available to chat with us about some of the features. It's very interesting and makes use of 8 shipping containers around the sides that are used for offices. You can hardly tell they are there. Many of the destroyed stores and cafes in the downtown area are using shipping containers to just keep things going until new buildings are built. These containers have now become tourist attractions. 

The stained glass window here is composed of enlarged versions of some of the shards that fell from the original iconic cathedral in the centre of the city. 

This temporary cathedral was designed by a Japanese architect. Its vaulted roof is made of cardboard tubing, quite strong in itself but reinforced with internal beams. Even the cross at the end is made of cardboard tubing. 

Very near to the cathedral is a memorial to the 185 people who died in the earthquake of Feb. 2011.  It features 185 empty white chairs, one for each person who died. 

It's very moving. Many of those killed were foreign students attending English language school in an office building that totally pancaked when the quake occurred. 

That night we had dinner at the hotel which just reopened its dining room 2 years ago after suffering damage in the earthquake. Apparently the rooms were all ok so the HF groups still were able to stay here, but had to go down the street for meals.

My appy that night was very pretty and particularly nummy: tomato feta cheese caprice. 

Tomorrow we get to really see Christchurch and learn more about the Garden City of New Zealand.

Tekapo and Mt. John

Lake Tekapo is a beautiful long lake with a little town at the end called Tekapo. We drove alongside the lake to the bottom of Mt. John. Not a mountain like Mt. Cook, more of a big bump above a very flat landscape. It was left over from the glacial age and is now one of only 5 international dark sky reserve sites in the world. 

We hiked to the top in 50 minutes with the promise of lattes once we got there. Actually a stunning view and we were all so thankful to finally have a dry sunny day . The University of Canterbury has an observatory at the top but we headed right for the Astro Cafe with its 360 degree view.

It was stunning so you can just imagine what it would be like when the clouds lift. The mountains from Mt. Cook Park are right there. After our lattes we did a summit path around the top then back down the same path we came up.

Wendy found a spear grass and got this pic. We had seen it before on the plains but not close enough to get a picture. As you can see you would not want to tangle with it; it's aptly named. 

After we hiked back down we headed over to the Church of the Good Shepherd on the shores of lake Tekapo. It was built in 1935 of stone and oak and seems to be THE place for tour busses so it was swarming with those pesky tourists! It is very cute though and is unusual in that behind the altar there is a picture window looking straight up the lake. Beautiful. 

The lakes in this area: Lake Tekapo and the larger lake we went by yesterday Lake Pukaki are an incredible color of turquoise. This is the result of "rock flour", the sediment in the water which causes a milky quality and refracts the sunlight. Whatever the cause, it's beautiful to see.

We headed off again in our bus, stopping at the town of Geraldine for a late lunch. We had a little time here so Wendy went off to a very strange shop with an equally strange man who has created a replica of the Bayeux tapestry in his wool shop. 

This guy spent 25 years making a copy of the tapestry out of tiny little metal pieces (actually the teeth from cogs from knitting machines) which he put onto wide masking tape, and then painted the images onto the surface. Because the original tapestry doesn't go to the end of the whole story, he created a design to complete the story, almost doubling the length of the piece.  It's all mounted under glass in a back room of his wool shop.  In addition he has hidden a mathematical puzzle within the panels. So far the only people even close to solving this puzzle are all under 14, and probably math wizards in their own right. In May he's taking the whole thing to England to display at Hastings for the 950-year anniversary of the Battle of Hastings. It will also tour other cities in UK. 

Detail of part of one panel. The metal pieces he used are about 2mm square. He also sells a flash drive with all images and extensive historical background. Clicking on a knight in the image will bring up pictures of that knight's home castle and family history. All the books he used in his research are also there. Quite an interesting (and obsessive) fellow! You just never know what you might see in these little towns.

On to Christchurch and our last stop. Hard to believe this 3 week tour is nearly over.

Kia Ora!

Aoraki / Mt. Cook

Mt. Cook or Aoraki (which is the Maori name for this peak) - highest peak in Australasia.

The plan today involved hiking into Hooker Valley, then back for a quick look at The Department of Conservation Centre (DOC) and if time then the Sir Edmund Hillary Museum which is on bottom floor of The Hermitage, a very cool hotel with every room facing Mt. Cook. After lattes in the coffee shop with the group, the three of us decided to forgo the hike so we could spend the 4 hours it would have taken going through both the museum and the DOC Centre. (This had nothing to do with the fact the clouds were so low it was impossible to see any mountains much less Mt. Cook, it was raining and we were still stiff, bruised and a bit sore from our mountain pass crossing in the rain 3 days before. I won't tell you how I got the bruises on the mountain until later - over a glass of wine cause it sounds like "and there I was climbing up a mountain!!!!).

The photo above is one Judy took of a picture in the Hermitage, just so you can see what it looks like without the low cloud.  It was the closest we got to seeing it as well.  The group went off to hike and we started with the museum. It cost $20 each but we could come and go all day. We checked out the museum which is all about Sir Edmund Hillary and mountain climbing, This was one of the first mountains he ever climbed, and he and his team used it to train for Everest. Then we went into their theatre to watch a 35min. movie about the beginning of New Zealand and the mountains. After that we walked down the road to the DOC Centre. It's like an info centre, nature house and all things about Mt. Cook park. It was very well done and very interesting. We watched a short movie there about search and rescue in the mountains. These rescuers risk their own lives to save those who have had climbing accidents on the mountain. 

There is a room just off the main foyer that is devoted to the memory of those climbers who have died on Mt. Cook - over 177 since the first mountaineers climbed this mountain in 1907. Wendy was looking for the name of a young 20 year old university student from Winnipeg who is the son of her masters adviser. She was able to find his name and then to read the file of his accident in 1980. He and his climbing partner were very close to the summit when they fell to their deaths. Very sobering but a neat way to remember all those climbers.

We returned to the museum after eating our lunch sandwiches in a covered picnic area. Remember it was raining and cold so covered was good; we'd had enough of being wet. We got back to the museum in time to watch the movie about Sir Edmund Hillary's life and his climb of Mt. Everest. The rest of our group had wanted to be back in time for this but did not make it. We three thought it was a great day. We all boarded the bus for the ride back to our hotel in Twizel for dinner. Tomorrow we head off to Christchurch after a morning hike.  We are nearing the end of our HF trip. 

Mt. Cook National Park (photo of a picture by Judy)

Bus, Bungy and Beets

We travelled from Te Anau to Twizel (don't you love the names) after rejoining our HF group last night. Tuesday was mostly a day of bus travel but with a few stops.  We had a 2 hour stop in Arrowtown for lunch and wander. Wendy and Judy visited a very old Chinese settlement from the gold rush days that this town is noted for. I wandered up and down the lovely old Main Street looking in some of the shops.  I did have my heart set on buying an Icebreaker tshirt, thinking that since they are made in New Zealand of New Zealand merino wool from New Zealand merino sheep that prices would be much more affordable than Canada. So it was a surprise to find that that is not the case. Très expensive! So I finally stopped looking at them and just enjoyed my wander and buying some post cards for my grandkids. A few of us had lunch at The Tap & Fork Pub which was fun. I had their special burger because it had beets in it - now if that isn't unusual!! Can't imagine finding a burger in Canada with beets on top of the meat. It was delicious but not cheap. Wendy had the seafood chowder which she raved about as well. We had another stop at a famous place on the road, Mrs. Jones Fruitstand. Kind of like the fruit stands in Keremeos, but with a couple of those big buses full of Asian tour groups, I made a hasty retreat back to our little bus as did Wendy but she managed to pay for a small bag of delicious local cherries.

We also stopped at A.J.Hackett's original Bungy Bridge at the Kawarau Suspension Bridge, 43m. high. We were all amazed at the constant line-up to do this. $180 for adults 1 jump, $130 for kids (kids - you would let your kid do this!!!!!?)

Hard to actually get the feel from this picture but it's a long way down then bouncing a few times. I don't even like the Ferris wheel so it was a definite no-go for me. 

Boat retrieval after the swinging has stopped.

We thought this was funny! Note cost for 2nd jump - after your drink I assume.

No dinner pictures tonight (sorry Cynthia) as it was a buffet and nothing to write home about. For the most part the food has been kind of like eating out in Canada - hit or miss. Wine good, we are focusing on just New Zealand wine and they are noted for their sauvignon blanc but prices similar to Canada (or even more). 

We did have a visitor during the night though. We were on the ground floor and windows crack open outwards at top. Wendy was woken at 2:30am when she felt something jump on her bed. She leaped up (only time you will ever see Wendy leap out of bed) and chased the visitor around the room then out the door into the hallway. Reminiscent of bat chasing in France in 2013 but this was a black and white cat with no tail. Apparently he/she is known to do this as it was no surprise to the hotel staff the next morning. I tried to get a reduction on the $5 cost for wi-fi for entertaining their cat but that was a no-go; they only laughed at me.

Looking most unconcerned!

On to Aoraki/Mt. Cook tomorrow, the highest peak in Australasia.

Finish of Hike and Morning Cruise

Judy being assisted by guides to make her way across river.

Marion climbing through tree fallen down over trail.

Our boat for The Milford Sound cruise. Our hiking group with Ultimate Hikes finished up our time together with an hour and a half cruise out to the Tasman Sea and back.  Although the tops of all the mountains were completely shrouded in cloud, we did see the most amazing waterfalls cascading down into the sound, which is actually a fiord.  There were hundreds of very high and narrow falls, but also many major cascades. Pretty stunning!!

It was amazing to see what they call "disappearing waterfalls".  Could not get a picture of one as my camera was getting unhappy about all the rain but it's water falling down the mountainside that gets caught by a strong wind and blown away so the waterfall does not carry on down to the sea.

Wendy and Judy on the bridge to take pictures when our boat pulled in under a waterfall.  Too wet outside.

Our bus driver Steve recited this poem one day when it was raining and since then we found it written at a cafe.  It's so true for the west coast of the South Island.  We are hoping for some dry weather as we head to the interior of the island and then onto Christchurch in a couple of days. I hope you can expand it so you can read it.

After the cruise we returned by bus (2 hour ride) to Te Anau where we spent some time catching up with email and laundry, and then rejoined our HF group for dinner. Back in the fold again,

Kia Ora.

Squelching part 2

Our rescue helicopter.

Landing at Quintin Lodge to pick us up.

Wendy has her first helicopter ride!

Quintin Lodge - as we fly away

Helicopter drops us off past the flooded trail so we can walk the last 11km.

Water, water everywhere.

The trail with a little waterfall.

A tree down on the trail.

Waterfalls everywhere!

An occasional boardwalk to lift us above it.  

The end of our hike.

We finished - Marion, Wendy and Judy - soaked but happy.

Our 4 guides and the 4 of us. 

Lynda (from Ireland); Judy; Guides Lydia, Luc, Heather, & Kelly; Marion & Wendy - after final dinner and certificate presentation.