[ Zoom Map ]

Christchurch, New Zealand (Aotearoa)
43° 31' S 172° 37' E
May 29, 2005 00:15
Distance 2409km

Choose another map, showing:

• New Zealand (South Island)
• New Zealand
• Oceania
• Eurasia, Africa & Pacific
• The World

Other entries in Christchurch

Glutton for punishment

Text written in: English

Right so, those of you keeping score may remember that in my last entry from OZ I said I wouldn;t be buying another car. Well that was just a bald faced lie. I arrived in Christchurch early in the morning of the 21st and after a bit of kip I started looking at my transport options for NZ after seeing the prices of the various buses available and deciding that the idea of a tour would not be my idea of a good time I am now the proud owner of a Blue Honda Civic hatch back that frankly rocks. Its manual so I have had to take a self taught crash course in manual transmission cars - I'm down to only one stall a day FIGJAM.
As soon as I bought the car I was off to Arthur's pass about 140km Northish of Christchurch for a few days of hiking. My first walk was up a mountain called Avalanche Peak - a five hour slog up and down a mountain. The walk was amazing, Arthurs Pass is a bit of a vally in the middle of the Black Ranges in about the middle of NZ's South Island and when I began the hike cloud had begun moving into the valley, making me think that the summit would be socked in. Not so, the tops of the surrounding mountains were high enough to poke through the cloud layer and the views were absolutley spectacular - 360 degree panoramas of the surrounding peaks, including the glacial Mt. Rolleston that looked like something right out of Lord of the Rings. On the way down the views remained awesome and even in the close subalpine bush the moss on the trees was like nothing I had ever seen before.
After a few nights in Arthurs I headed to Lake Tekapo which was good but paled in comparison to nearby lake Pukaki, a large glacial lake coloured an unearthly turqoise by the "rock flour" suspended in water that feeds into the lakes from the glaciers around Mt. Cook. The lake itself would have been enough but the backdrop of the mountains at its Northern end made it even more amazing. From there I drovve into the mountains to the town at the base of Mt. Cook where I did a few walks up the sides of the some of the surrounding peak s and out to the Tasman Galcier. Just in case you can't tell I really like New Zealand, it seems like everywhere you go the views just get better and better. Tomorrow I head off to do a 5 day hike into the bush with an English guy named Mark who I met in Mt. Cook - we are provisioning in Queenstwon before heading out tomorrow. Its supposed to be rainy and cold but I can't wait.