The Last Days

            The next early morning started us off a little surprised, and frankly a little disappointed. The sunny blue skies of yesterday were long gone and replaced by heavy rainclouds releasing a dreary drizzle over the rolling green fields. But we were determined to still accomplish the day’s activities, putting on our Oregon and Alaska (and for Karen the Irish) weather hardened mindsets and brave the rainy walks we had planned in our thin raincoats and totally waterproof jeans (not).

 

Horseshoe Falls

            Our first walk was the two sites in one walterfall walk, trekking out to the beautiful Matai falls then trudging up the track another 2 minutes to take in the lovely Horseshoe Falls.  The rain began to pick up even more as we hurried back to our car, the rain coming down steadily as we emerged from the woods and hopped into the car. 

Matai Falls

            Continuing down the road, we took the turnoff to Porpoise Bay, well known to be the home of a large pod of the rare Hectors Dolphin. We sat in the car for a while there, parked parallel to the shores for a bit of carpark style dolphin watching.  I wouldn’t quite say with one hundred percent certainty that we saw them, but we all saw a number of brownish black patches cresting above the waves a little too far out to be rocks and the general consensus was a strong likelihood that they were dolphins.

            Continuing on a short ways, we parked the car again in the carpark of Curio Bay and braved once again the rain as we made the short walk to the oceanfront.  The bay is famous for the petrified forest that is still evident there, the tree trunks encompassed in rocks still evident even from the lookout above. 

            On the road again the skies finally opened up with all their fury and began dumping a pounding torrent of rain, the wind even joining in the festivities. We made it to the beginning of the Slope Point walk, the destination we knew boasting a funny little sight pointing to the South Pole.  Choosing to forego the little tourist geared jaunt through sheep fields and deciding to stay a little dryer for a little longer, we made our way to the final little featured site of Waipapa Point.  That we did brave, though I don’t know fully why in the slanting and pounding rain….

The lighthouse against the pouring rain at Waipapa Point

            But we did it by golly and hurried almost at a run back through the rain and to the safe and dry confines of the rental car.  Our scenic coastal drive complete, it was time to move inland and make the couple hour drive back to Queenstown.  Several stops later and we were back, the skies finally deciding they were done releasing their load and parting at last to show us the sun tinted snowy peaks of the surrounding mountains.  

The view of the mountains rising over the city from our hostel room balcony.

            The next morning it was time to pack up and head out, the bus coming in and picking up the crew from Nomads hostel at 9:15am. Crossing over the Lindis Pass, one of the highest driving points in New Zealand at 972 meters above sea level, we made our way to our second to last destination on our whirlwind trip of New Zealand trip. 

Lindis Pass

             As we went we began to see mountains more doused in snow, the lifting of the clouds revealing the white layer of powder their high altitudes storms had left behind.

Snow covered mountains stretching along the horizon

            We reached Lake Tekapo by 2:00 in the afternoon, the low light pollution town famous as one of the best star gazing places in the world. With a full afternoon to burn, Mom and I decided to brave the several hour hike up to the top of the neighboring Mount John, the freezing wind making us glad we bundled up well. 

            The trail wound its way around the lake side of the mountain, it’s muddy track ascending and descending the mountainside in a way that made us wonder if we were ever going to reach the top! A good hour later the track finally began to veer upwards for good, the rocky path leading us up and through the countryside littered with evidence of sheep grazing.

            Gosh was the scenery beautiful! The cloudy skies reflecting twinges of orange and purple. 

            We finally completed our trek to the top, probably right on with the 2 hour estimated travel time.  The view was breathtaking, the stargazing observatory behind us, the small town of Tekapo below us, and the vastness of Lake Tekapo stretching out beside us.

            We made it to the bottom just as the sun started to sink down the sky, the chill all the more biting and giving us the excuse to check out the giant, swimming pool sized hot tubs found right next door to our hostel. We left the small town early the next morning, our driver wanting to get started on what he thought of as a long and boring drive to our final destination of Christchurch. We took a short stop off to photograph an historic old chapel on the edge of town and then Jed, our driver popped in a comedian skit by Danny Bhoy to keep us occupied for the drive, and off we went.

The Church of the Good Shepherd

            We arrived at Christchurch in the early afternoon, finally getting to see the city well in the morning light that had been absent our last time through.  We took a long walk through town with Karen and Elena, another passenger friend from the Kiwi bus, and took in the sights of Christchurch.  Much of the city was destroyed in early 2011 when a massive earthquake hit, killing almost 200 people and severely damaging much of New Zealands second largest city.  Not surprisingly, there were massive construction projects and restoration processes underway all throughout the city and it was sad to see the damage done to some of the old historical buildings.

            But the city still runs as it must, the fountains in the park still running with all their gusto, the life size chess board set up on the sidewalk and the side street cafes still advertising their wares.

            Skirting all the construction and taking in the sights of town, we made our way to a classy little coffee shop in one of the downtown café strips.  One thing that was cool about the particular building we were in was that the city tour trolley actually periodically drove through the building.  That’s right, the big glass walls would open up, and the trolley would come rolling in on the track running straight trough the building and exit out the other side.  That was an odd sight to see the first time around!

             We then made our way to the Christchurch Cantebury Museum where they have on display a surprising array of items from all over Maori history and European settlement of New Zealand. 

Weapons, utensils, and trinkets made from  Pounamu or greenstone (what we would think of as Jade)

Traditional Maori carvings

            They have a fully replica of an old Victorian town, a couple streets zigzagging through the bowels of the museum and displaying fully believable shop fronts for things that could likely have been sold in those times and numerous replica shops that we could walk through and “browse.” I only wish I had had more time to see all there was to see! Unfortunately we got there right at 25 minutes before closing and our little self guided tour was certainly a very quick one.

Getting to ride a Penny-farthing!

            From there we made our way out the front doors of the museum and to the city’s biggest park, Hatleys Park and gardens. We simply walked around it for a while until dusk started settling in and we decided to go out in search of food for dinner.  We ended up choosing the nice little restaurant attached to our accommodation building, the café even having a special lower price menu for people staying at the hostel. 

            Mom and I chose to split the chicken curry which at one point we almost backed out on when they came back to us and said they had run out of rice and asked if we would like chips (fries) with that instead.  Karen assured us we really needed to give it a go as it is a very Irish style dish. And you know, I probably would have never pegged it as fantastic but it really was! You should give it a go some time.

Catching a glimpse of the now all too familiar sight of Townsville as my plane comes in for landing on the last flight of the long day flying out of New Zealand

           The following morning it was time to say our goodbyes, concluding our time in New Zealand and catching a bright and early 6:00am flight back to Australia.  And thus began what will be a full two or so days of travel before I rest my feet once more on American soil in the next coming days.  I will be finishing off this day in Townsville, where I will be staying with all my awesome friends and former housemates at the lodge for the night before I catch the first flight of many on my journey back home.