We all had a wonderful holiday in New Zealand. The scenery was as amazing as we remembered and we couldn’t have asked for better weather.
The first day was an early flight from Sydney to Christchurch, and then a couple of hours drive to Lake Tekapo. We were staying in a holiday home for the night which was brand new, I think we were the first people to stay in it. It also had some glorious views over the Lake, which only got better when the sun rose the next morning.
From here we drove up to Mount Cook, but before this we went into Twizel to meet up with Sany Darwin. Sandy and Ian are from Forster and run a fly fishing business and now a B&B. We styed with them last time we were in NZ, but it was just a passing visit this time. As we drove up beside a bright blue lake, we could see the rain coming down over Mt Cook village, so it was a bit dreary when we arrived. We were staying at the Youth hostel which was very comfortable and Sarah, Jack, Grace and I went for a short walk in the rain.
The next morning I got up for a run and the sky was completely clear, there were perfect views of all the surrounding mountains. I was worried that the clouds would come over by the time the others were up and about, but it stayed like this for the rest of the day (and week). So we all walked up to some viewpoints overlooking some glaciers, which were covered in rocks so did not look like ice, Mt Sefton and Mt Cook. It was all very impressive.
Then we drove down to Wanaka. We were staying there for the next 4 days so it was nice to find that the house was very comfortable. That evening, Jack made his feelings felt by asking when we were going to do something fun. So the next day was really all for the children (young and old). We went to Puzzling World in the morning, got lost in the maze and confused in the strange mirrored and shaped rooms. Then played in a park beside the lake in the afternoon.
The next day we took a drive up to Cardrona Ski Fields. Even though it was right at the end of the ski season there was still plenty of snow around. We’d hired some sledges so had a great time at the bottom of the ski lifts. The snow was so dry and packed down the the sledges sped down at a great rate. They had to be caught at the bottom to stop them running into the building, or worse of the cliff.
As we had driven south of Wanaka we carried on a little further to Arrowtown. This is an old gold rush town, with a lovely old high street and a rebuilt settlement where the chinese miners lived. Amazing to see how small their one room huts were. It was a long drive back around the mountains and we arrived in Wanaka in time for tea.
Our last day in Wanaka was still perfect weather and we went to a toy and transport museum at the airfield. This was one of thos museums which is just a collection of old junk (in this case cars, lorries and toys) but there was 4 hangers full of them. I think the cars were slowly being renovated, but a lot were just rusting away.
After lunch, Sarah, Jack and Grace went to a bead shop to make necklaces while Lance and I wandered around Wanaka. That evening, Mary and Lance, kindly babysat so Sarah and I went out for a drink in town. The bar we went to must have been the backpackers hangout as most people there seemed to be from elsewhere in the world.
We packed up the house the following morning and drown across to the East Coast. This was quite a long drive but very picturesque. We arrived at Oamaru, where we stayed in a much smaller house, I’m glad the rest weren’t this size, but still quite comfortable. Oamaru is know for it’s historic buildings and its penguins, so after a play in a park, we drove past the buildings and went off to the penguin colony. There are 2 colonies there, the first we went to was Yellow Eyed penguins, which are very rare, and we could supposedly watch them coming ashore from a look out up on the cliff. I didn’t see any on the beach but we could see a few in the bushes. Then after F&C tea we went to the Blue Eared Penguin Colony. This is commercialised and you have to sit in a stand to watch the penguins come ashore to their nests. As the dusk came, so did the penguins. It was amazing to see them come in in their groups and slowly walk up the beach to their nests.
The next day we drove up to our last stop in Christchurch. We booked into our hotel, and while Sarah had a massage on her bad back, the rest of us went around the city on the tourist tram. The tram was the best part of this though it is a nice city itself. Once we’d met up with Sarah again we all had a very nice dinner at a restaurant and then a late walk back to the hotel.
The last morning was spent at the Antartic Centre. this is where most of the people flying to the Antarctic depart and there is a museum there. It was very interesting seeing all the pictures of life in the Antarctic and there was also a cold room with snow and an igloo, normally this is at -8degC but once an hour there is a storm and it goes down to -20degC. Lance and I went in during the storm and felt the full force of the cold and the wind. Jack’s favourite part of the Antarctic Centre was a ride on a truck they use on the ice, Grace and I also went on this. It is designed to drive over crevasses and up and down the ice, so the course we drove around we amazing. It went up and down steep slopes, over big gaps in the ground and then finally floated across a pond, using it’s catepillar tracks as paddles. As the truck drove up the steep slop out of the pond, we could watch the dirty water get higher and higher up the back window!
Then to the airport, and our goodbyes. Lance and Mary were staying for another couple of days before flying back to England. It was sad to say goodbye but the holiday was a wonderful way to spend some time together.
