AOTEAROA - Land of the long white cloud

On arrival in Christchurch we were taken to The Grand Chancellor hotel to meet up with our fellow travellers, Coach Captain, Leigh and Tour Director, Cheryl, for a welcome dinner. There were 25 on the tour; 17 of which had already completed a tour of the North Island. We were among the 8 that were only doing the South Island and we all seem to hit it off ok. The dinner was a delicious smorgasbord and after eating retired to our rooms for an early night as we had to be up at 5 am with bags packed and outside our door by 6pm the same time as breakfast. This sought of thing was to happen throughout the tour with the exception of Queenstown where we stopped in the same hotel for 2 days.

On our first day our coach left us to catch the Tranz Alpine train and would met up with us again at Arthurs Pass. The view from the train was breathtaking as it passed fields and farmland of the Canterbury Plains and followed the gorges and river valleys of the Waimakariri River into the South Alps. When we disembarked at Arthurs Pass we continued on to Hokitika to see skilled craftsmen carving Pounamo (Jade) or that was supposed to be what we saw but Tony and I decided to explore the town instead. After lunch with viewed the awesome Franz Josef Glacier and experienced a scenic helicopter flight with a snow landing.

We stayed overnight at Fox Glacier

Day 3 we travelled through the sub-tropical rainforest to Haast Pass and viewed the spectacular Thunder Creek Falls. Visited popular Arrowtown, a quaint and historic gold mining town. Continued on to picturesque Queenstown where our hotel room overlooked beautiful Lake Wakatipu and The Remarkables mountain range. The mountains were allegedly named The Remarkables because they are one of only two mountain ranges in the world which run directly north to South. An alternate explanation for the name given by locals is that early Queenstown settlers, upon seeing the mountain range during sunset one evening, named them The Remarkables to describe the sight. We dined in style that night. Picture shows Tony and I with Peter and Gina, a couple who live at Thornleigh and dine at Zacs.
Day 4 was a free day in Queenstown. We took a ride by gondola to the skyline complex on Bob's Peak and discovered a view like no other spread out before you in a spectacular panorama. From Coronet Peak to the north, The Remarkables mountain range to the east and across the deep blue waters of Lake Wakatipu to Cecil and Walter Peaks in the southwest, it was magnificent and awe inspiring. The only time it rained the whole trip was this afternoon so we had lunch and ventured around the town. Late in the afternoon we boarded a vintage steamship TSS Earnslaw to cruise Lake Wakatipu and then enjoyed a wine tasting and dinner at Walter Peak High Country Station followed by a farm tour. I got to feed a baby lamb, it was awesome.

On the way back on the boat we had a singalong.

Day 5 we travelled through the breathtaking Fiordland National Park, where lush rainforests meet snow capped mountains. Then boarded the boat for an unforgettable cruise on Milford Sound, the most accessible of Fiordland's magnificent glacier fiords. Lush green rainforest clung to sheer rock walls washed with waterfalls and in the foreground was Mitre Peak, a majestic presence dominating the skyline. Tony got a fantastic video of the waterfalls but in doing so was drenched by the spray. The water in the lake was so calm and peaceful and you could see the reflection of the flora in the water. We returned to the lakeside town of Te Anau for an overnight stay at the Luxmore Hotel. On the long journey back, as there is only one road in and out of Milford Sound, they put on a New Zealand film called "Whale Rider".

Photos show the tunnel going into Milford Sound by coach & on the boat. Also the Kea which is a species of parrot found in forrested and alpine regins of the South Island. He was very tame and came up right inside the bus. He is used to tourists and wanted food but it is illegal to feed them as they must find the correct food for themselves and not eat our food which is junk to them.

Tony catching a fish in Te Anau

On day six we had the option of having an overnight stay with the local people in the countryside of Dunedin or at the Kingsgate Hotel. Everyone opted for the hotel. Dunedin is a university city of Scottish heritage and New Zealand's oldest city. This is where Kerry's husband, Michael was born and his Mum and Dad still live. I rang his Mum but we did not have enough spare time to visit her. The night before we arrived there had been riots among the students from different universities throughout the South Island. However, we didn't see any evidence of this when we arrived. We certainly felt a bit out of place as everybody walking along the street seemed to be students. Baldwin St in Dunedin is regarded by the Guinness Book of Records as being the steepest street in the world - 35% gradient

The next day we went to Larnach Castle in Dunedin. This was more like an magnificent old house rather than a castle but it did have the turrets on the top. It was built in 1871 and during our guided tour we heard about its tragic and scandalous history. After exploring the large garden we headed off along the Waitaki River to Omarama to see the Moeraki Boulders.

Tony standing on a Boulder

The Moeraki Boulders are huge spherical stones that are scattered over the sandy beaches, but they are not like ordinary round boulders that have been shaped by rivers and pounding seas. These boulders are classed as septarian concretions, and were formed in ancient sea floor sediments. They were created by a process similar to the formation of oyster pearls, where layers of material cover a central nucleus or core. For the oyster, this core is an irritating grain of sand. For the boulders, it was a fossil shell, bone fragment, or piece of wood. Lime minerals in the sea accumulated on the core over time, and the concretion grew into perfectly spherical shapes up to three metres in diameter.

The original mudstone seabed has been uplifted to form coastal cliffs. Erosion of the cliffs has released the three tonne captive boulders, which now lie in a haphazard jumble across the beach. Further erosion in the atmosphere has exposed a network of veins, which gives the boulders the appearance of turtle shells. Similar boulders occur at Shag Point, and the nearby swimming beach of Katiki. In Hawke's Bay in the North Island, scientists have found that the central core of similar boulders contained perfectly preserved skeletons of turtles, sea snails and extinct reptiles, such as plesiosaurs.

After spending the night at the Heritage Gateway Hotel in Dunedin we headed off pass picturesque Lake Pukaki and stopped and viewed Mt Cook. They say it is very rare to see Mt Cook as it is generally covered in cloud but we were lucky. We continued on to the glacier-fed lake of Tekapo, where we saw the Church of the Good Shepherd, situated right on the lakes edge. The glacial blue waters are amazing. This was day 8 and our farewell dinner was tonight back in Christchurch where our tour officially ends. The next day was a free day to enjoy the sights of Christchurch. We ventured to the Museum then on to the Botanical Gardens where we managed to get lost and found we had been walking around in circles. Eventually we found our way out. We walked for kms to find a Golf Club House so we could buy a golf shirt with an emblem on for David's 60th. We found one and also brought a cap to match. However, when we got it home found that it was a women's one as it buttoned on the opposite side.......what a shame we should have payed more attention. We did tell the lady it was for my brother.

Pictures or Coach Captain, Leigh and Tour Director, Cheryl - Our travellers companions -

Farewell dinner (on the left is Leigh, Christine, his mother, Gina and Peter and on the right, Tommy and Cathie, myself and Tony).

The final day all we wanted to do was get home. We really enjoyed our trip but could not have taken living out of a suitcase and strict schedule for much longer. Eight days on the coach was enough. We certainly couldn't have done the North Island as well. We were also lucky to have such a nice group of people that all got on so well and worked together otherwise it could have been a nightmare.

In the Botanic Gardens in Christchurch





Me walking like a penquin on Franz Josef Glacier