Saturday, August 20, 2011
Today my Haka Tour ended and I had to start saying goodbye to the group. I also experienced my first 2 real earthquakes.....but not to worry, I'm fine.
Our day seemed to start slowly (I wonder why?).......but we were on a schedule so we did get moving. We were making our way from Franz Josef to Christchurch via Greymouth, where we were catching a train. Before Greymouth we made a few stops.
Lake Mapourika. On this beautifully clear day the reflection on the water is almost flawless.
Even through the trees you can see the amazing reflections.
From Lake Mapourika we made a stop in Hokitika to check out a Jade factory. I actually didn't buy anything (not sure why) but there were a lot of very nice pieces to browse through.
The main traffic circle in Hokitika. I do believe the clock says 1000.....better get moving.
Upon our arrival in Greymouth we got our luggage dropped off at the train station and then made our way to find some food. That turned out to be slightly harder than expected due to it being Saturday afternoon (you would think the bakeries would want to be open with all the tourists coming in and out of town but what do I know?)
Does this sign seem a little dramatic to you? I guess you just really get the point. I think it's funny.
The train arriving.
With the arrival of the train it was time to say good-bye to a few people. Evan, Nikki and Verve were going to continue on and travel a bit more of New Zealand. The rest of us (Louise, Eilidh, Burto, Barb, Jenn, Katie, Maggie and Myself) were off on a 4 hour scenic train ride back to Christchurch.
The trip took us through Arthur's Pass. A really beautiful and relaxing trip.
A glimpse of some of the scenery we watched pass us by through the windows. There was also commentary throughout the trip. The man telling was stories was quite funny. He liked to use his wife and daughter to illustrate points. It was very entertaining.
We all found different ways to entertain ourselves, from playing cards (like Burto) to sleeping (of course I took a nap), to reading, to watching movies and even sorting pictures from our trip. Pretty quiet trip.
The sunset. Quite beautiful.
Eventually we made it to Christchurch and back to Haka Lodge. Jenn, Katie, Eilidh, Louise and I quickly settle back into the apartment before joining the others and heading to dinner. At about 1930 (7:30pm....while we were mostly re-packing bags), the apartment began to shake as we experienced a 4.0 earthquake. Pretty crazy. Only lasted about 30 seconds and was not that strong but since I'd never really experienced one before, it was pretty cool.
The group then headed out to what would be our last dinner together. The next morning most of us would be heading out, at many different times and in many different directions. Some of the group was heading home while some of us would just be heading out on more travels.
Overall, it was a pretty amazing 16 days.....even with the snow in. If you ever make it to New Zealand, and need a quick tour I totally recommend Haka Tours. Check them out if you have chance.
http://www.hakatours.com/
In the morning I would be hopping back on a bus and heading to Queenstown. Still 5 more days in the country but this time I would get to spend them in the same place.
Oh and at about 1:00am, I was woken up by a 3.8 earthquake. Didn't keep me awake for long but certainly felt it.
Julie
