Two days of proper R&R in Hanmer Springs were just what
the doctor ordered. A lot of sleeping, few nice dinners (very nice indeed!),
some gentle walks and a really good quad bike excursion later we were reborn
and ready to attack New Zealand in full swing! Started off with few wine tastings
in Waipara wine region (what else?). To our surprise we discovered New Zealand
red vine – Pinot Noir. We are no PN drinkers usually, but this one got us by
surprise – we liked it. We also once again confirmed we love NZ Sauvignon Blanc
(no real surprises there…).
Next stop – Akaroa, supposedly lovely little French
influenced town on the Banks peninsula. Add Hector’s dolphins to the equation
and we have a winner. Well, that was before we started looking for
accommodation – not available again! What is it with NZ and rooms? So, we
applied well tested solution from Australia – sleeping in a car. After a
freeing night it looks like this will not be a solution. Akaroa is probably one
of warmest places on Southern Island, but felt cold to us. Yep, we will need to
get on top of this hotel/motel business. B&Bs we counted on are actually
luxury accommodation that cost arm and leg – not really in our budget range
this time.
Only French thing in town were street names and odd looking
croissant in the local bakery. All the images of Provence and Loire valley we
had in our heads were gone with the wind from the Pacific ocean. And this one
was majestic. Open water till Antarctica and South America… Big, big blue. Full
of life! On our bay cruise we saw Hector’s dolphins riding our wave; New
Zealand fur seals welcomed us with big black eyes and lot of cuddly young pups;
even caught the odd penguin by surprise. Pure enjoyment! We finished off the
day with fresh fish bbq on the pier – what else can you want?
Then back to mountains and lake Tekapo. A vivid blue glacial
lake close to Mt Cook (Highest mountain in NZ). Colours were amazing, landscape
a total surprise. We expected lush green and a lot of rain and were welcomed
with rugged, barren vistas. Best views were promised from the local hill – Mt
John. Little did we expect the vistas we were going to get. Not just the lakes
and mountains, but also the Southern skies. Yep, you guessed it – this is the
most southern observatory in the world. We could not miss the tour, could we?
Southern cross, Orion belt, Magellan clouds, beauty of the night sky was there.
Topped off with some wonderful sights of rings of Saturn (our out of focus photo
really does not do it justice!) and Moon. And then of the Sun the next day
(part of the tour). This probably is one of the best things on this trip!
Mt Cook was also nice, but guess after the extra-terrestrial
experience it would be almost impossible to be wowed so easily. We took the
walk everyone recommends (2,5 hours of strait walking after about 5 years of
doing no hill-walking at all!) Our feet (just getting accustomed to shoes again)
did not look that good in the end. Verdict – walk was not really worth the
trouble. And we still prefer the European Alps. We decided to cool off in the
only hotel in the region and this was a treat. Cold beer on a terrace with best
views of Mt Cook you could wish for (yep, very proud we schlepped around for 3
hours). But best thing was to come in the afternoon – drive on the glacial lake
with view of the largest glacier in New Zealand – Tasman. We figured easy
afternoon after all that walking was due. Wrong again! There is another hike to
the lake and back to bus. Miraculously this time all went well, seems our
bodies remembered the routine (beer possibly helped a bit?). Timing was perfect
– few days earlier a large iceberg broke off the and it was still floating
about (partly in chunks thou). And we ARE talking LARGE here – about 50m above
the surface and estimated 200m below. For the first few minutes we thought that
was the glacier and not the ice-berg floating in the lake (guess beer helped
here as well…). Aqua blue ice on another glacial lake – a proper spectacle to
see.
It was time to say good-bye to Canterbury for now (we’ll be
back for Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers) and head off to Queenstown – world
capital of adrenalin junkies (Dejan grinning, Nives moaning…).
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