Island Hopping

The days are flying by and we now realise that we haven't updated you for almost a week. After Mt. Cook we stayed in Lake Tekapo and the following morning went up to the Mt. John observatory for what was to be our last look at the Southern Alps, note how brown the landscape is on this side. We have now seen these mountains from east, west above and below.

Back to the coast for 2 days in Akaroa, originally settled by the French this is a quaint little day tripper town on the Banks Peninsula which is described as having fingers of land 'like cogs in a wheel', an expression Bermudians can relate to. It is only 50 miles from Christchurch but feels like the end of the earth as there are so many steep hills to negotiate before you reach the town.

After 2 relaxing days we moved on to Christchurch, a very English city in the Canterbury district with the River Avon and many other English names. Sadly, there is not much to see, the city center is fenced off and is to a large extent a demolition site with cranes, heavy equipment and many buildings propped up with steel girders. In this photo you can see the Cathedral, once the heart of the city now being demolished. The university buildings are badly damaged and will cost a fortune to repair, estimates to rebuild Christchurch are in excess of $2 billion. One ironic sign read 'New Zealand the untouched world".

Hanmer Springs is a typical Spa town in the mountains, with hot pools and sulphur baths and the usual range of activities: bungee jumping, quad bikes, rafting and jet boats and the river side drive is very pretty. The amazing thing about this country is the diversity, it probably all sounds the same after a while; coast, mountains , coast mountains, but it isn't because the topography is different, the trees are different then the beaches and rocks change. On the way to Kaikora we stopped for coffee at a little oceanside cafe, across the road there were a few rocks but nothing spectacular until about 100 dolphins showed up jumping and flipping and doing all the things you see at Seaworld, no big deal- it happens every day.

Moving into Marlborough country the hills become very brown until you reach the vineyards.

Most of the time we have stayed in motels, they are generally well equipped and comfortable but we felt that if we were in wine country we should stay in a vineyard, not as easy to find as one might think but after a few tries we did it, the above photo was from the veranda of our cottage just 10 steps from the Chardonnay vines. However this area is primarily known for Sauvignon Blanc and we have tried a few in the last 5 weeks. Sunday lunch at Highfield Estate was quite decadent, good food and the best view in the valley.

Our last day in South Island which has been exceptional, we take the ferry back to Wellington on Monday to start a 5 day golf tour.