20/02/ 2013
Pulling out of Fairlie and heading for the hills had us wondering if we were doing the right thing. The weather was pretty dire, heavy mist and drizzle, we couldn’t see much but the forecast was for it to clear later. Within the hour we were up in the hills in clear bright sunshine, above the cloud, and could see Mt Cook and the Southern Alps in the distance. Everywhere you look there is an amazing landscape, we have taken dozens of photos. We stopped by Lake Tekapo for a few minutes to walk our legs and take photos, the water in the lake is a strange blue colour, difficult to describe.
Then we turned north and drove alongside Lake Pukaka with Mt Cook in front of us the whole time. Again we took lots of snaps.
At Mt Cook village there is a marvellous information centre where we learned all about the early Alpinists from Europe who came to climb the mountain. There is a good display of early photos and lots of mountaineering equipment from the old days. How they managed to climb in hob-nailed boot and heavy woollen clothing is beyond me.
From there we drove 8k along a stony road to the car park near to Lake Tasman and the Tasman Glacier. To view the glacier we had to rock scramble up the side of the mountain to a view point at the top. ( Not the very top of Mt Cook!) We have never seen a glacier before and are not sure if we have seen one yet as this one was so far away. It just looked like dirty stretch of gravel in the distance. It must have been a glacier because it said so on the information board and there were lumps of ice in the lake, I could see them through my binoculars.
That bit of the day was a bit disappointing but the scenery will always be remembered. We are staying in another ski resort, Omarama tonight, heading back to the coast in the morning.
21/2/2013
As we dropped down from the really high country, and before we levelled off on the plain, it’s not difficult to imagine you could be in the English lakes or the Scottish highlands. The lakes ( lochs ), blocks of fir trees, gorse and heathery types of bushes, the occasional mist, makes it so. Many place names have Scottish connections, Aviemore, Peebles and Hampden are just some.
After the spectacular mountains the plain appeared quite dull ( plain ) until we reached the coastal town of Oamaru, no Scottish influence in that name! Oamaru is really nice, it has some well preserved buildings and a Victorian precinct, very quirky. We ambled around there for a while then drove off to visit the Moaraki Boulders on a beach some 30 minutes drive south. These boulders are like big marbles, about one metre diameter and quite unusual, but, I have to say, not a patch on the Devils Marbles we saw in Australia’s Northern Territory .
The weather turned while we were on the beach and suddenly we found we were getting grit blasted by sand whipped up by a howling gale. We cleared off to Dunedin where we will spend the week end. Rugby tomorrow.
22/2/2013
Match day and a 7-30 kick off so we decided to leave the van in the caravan park and catch the bus into town about mid day and hoof it around the sites. First we had to find out where the Forsyth Barr Stadium was to go and collect our tickets which we had ordered online. It was long hike from where the bus dropped us and once we had picked up our tickets there was not much choice other than hike back up into town.
Being a University city the average age of the population looks to be about 13, kids everywhere living in what looks to be nasty run down squats. The litter and graffiti is appalling spoiling what could be a nice city.
The rugby stadium is state of the art, permanently completely covered, yet the pitch is grass and grows naturally. We had good seats with an all round view and watched a high quality game, the Highlanders, the home side, coming second to the Chiefs.
Whenever there was a break in play we were entertained by the antics of one section of the crowd in the stand behind the goal. This area is known as ‘The Zoo’, obvious when you witness it!!
We had a great night with a curry then a taxi home.
If Jane had 10 more toes she would have 10 more blisters!
23/02/2013
When we were struggling to find our way out of Christchurch 12 days ago, there was a reason for our problem. The city was being reconstructed after an earthquake. Dunedin hasn’t got an excuse other than pathetic road signs, or, no signs at all. After a couple of laps of the city this morning I managed to find a Policeman who pointed me in the right direction with a friendly word or two “next time mate I would take the bypass because it’s crap in here”. Crap sums Dunedin up, it is without doubt the dirtiest city we have visited. Certainly around the university and student quarters were there is broken glass and fast food containers everywhere. It’s disgusting. We have moved south and will not be travelling back that way.
We are now in the most southern point of South Island, Invercargill, with just the small Stewart Island between us and the south pole. We think Tierra del Fuego is the most southerly point in the world( geography a bit sketchy) but this will do, it only gets chilly from here on. As it happens the weather is beautiful and we are still wearing shorts during the day. . The forecast is good for the next few days and by then we will be moving north again. Invercargill may have the Scottish influence but unlike Dunedin, hopefully it will not have the rubbish.
24/02/2013
Today we visited lands end, New Zealand lands end. No tackiness here like the U K’s lands end, just a pub, a small guest house and the last signpost. To get there we travelled through the port of Bluff, a busy port with also a ferry service to Stewart Island, though from what we can gather you have to be mad to want to go there. It’s wilder and bleaker than the mainland.
We spent quite a bit of time around the Bluff, visiting the lookout point at the top of a very steep hill which made the van cough a bit! The lookout is so high up and a long way from the port that we think our photos won’t be that impressive, we need a more sophisticated camera probably.
Later we drove back to Invercargill, which is a much bigger city than we imagined it to be, with a few shops open , unusual for a Sunday in the sticks. We walked ( Jane stumbled around on her blisters)through Queens Park, a really well laid out park with a big aviary and tropical greenhouses. The city has a strong Scottish heritage like Dunedin but looked after properly. Altogether a nicer place.
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