Travel from Christchurch to Wanaka, New Zealand.......Well Mostly Lake Tekapo
Sunday August 14th to Wednesday August 17th, 2011
Sunday August 14th, 2011
Today we left Christchurch and continued on our tour of the South Island. We had rolled into town so late last night that we only managed to see a small amount of the damage caused by the most recent earthquake. Today we got a really great view of it. Looking back on photos Christchurch was a very beautiful city. Today, well today the entire CBD (that’s Central Business District…..for those of us North Americans would call it…..Downtown) is in a red zone. No one gets in except demolition crews.
The remains of the Crown Plaza Hotel. Look at the left side of the building and you will see how the whole side of the building has buckled and shifted down. Needless to say, the whole building must come down.
Christchurch is constantly experiencing earthquakes, sometimes daily, but most are so small you probably wouldn't even notice. September 4th, 2010 however the city was rocked by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake. There were minimal injured with this quake, probably because it happened at 0435 and most people were still at home in bed. February 4th, 2011 , when a magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck just before 1300 (1:00pm) was a different story. 181 people were killed during that quake and most of the damage you see, is also the result of the February quake.
One of the streets we would normally take into the CBD. Looks awfully desolate and sad now.
Essentially the entire area of the city, as well as a few others have been marked for total demolition because there is nothing else they can do with them. It really is unfortunate. It is estimated that it will cost around $20 billion to rebuild…..but they are determined to rebuild. One thing that could have help was the money the city would have received from hosting the Rugby World Cup. Of course all the Christchurch games have been moved to other cities in the country and once again Christchurch gets the shaft.
Here's a better idea of what the damage looks like.
A picture I took of a picture of the Christchurch Cathedral. Unfortunately this is the closet I will ever get to see the real thing. After the February earthquake the spire fell and most of the building was damaged. So sad.
After a quick tour and some pictures we hit the road. We made one quick stop at Cookie Time (Burto wanted cookies…….and the rest of us didn’t mind…..they were good cookies. Awesome when heated up in the microwave).
It's the Cookie Time Monster. He's not actually fuzzy.
Me with Louise and Nikki in the van. Louise was warm and her coat was in fact fuzzy.
I mentioned a couple additions to our group. While in Christchurch we picked up a guide and 2 other travelers. Verve was the guide, and was originally slated to be with us starting in Auckland, but extended a trip in Europe so is only joining us now. The 2 travelers were 2 more girls (sorry Evan), Barb (from Ireland) and Maggie (from France). All 3 made great additions to our travel family.
What some of the view out the window. There has been a lot of concern over the last couple days of the “Perfect Snow Storm” arriving and affecting driving conditions so Verve (the new your guide) and Burto (the old tour guide who has decided just to come along for the ride) decided that it was pertinent to get to our next destination quickly. We happened to see a few snowflakes along the way but nothing much to worry about and we arrived in Lake Tekapo in plenty of time.
Lake Tekapo is a beautiful spot. Very reminiscent of Waterton National Park in Southern Alberta if you ask me……but I could also compare it to many other mountain/lake areas in the BC-Alberta area. In fact the entire ride to Lake Tekapo I felt comfortably at home…….like I’ve always been here.
The Church of The Good Shepherd that sits nicely on Lake Tekapo. Beautiful spot but a little chilly on this day.
Our accommodation here is pretty nice with a very bright and warm lounge room. When we arrived we had no idea how comfortable and how much time we would be spending in this lounge room but I will get to that.
After settling in and relaxing a bit we made our way up to the hot pools at Alpine Springs. Unlike the hot pools at Taupo these are not naturally occurring hot springs. The water is actually from the lake (which is pretty cold) and is heated to 37 to 40 C. It was super nice and enjoyable. Alpine Springs also has a day spa and a skating rink (not regulation for anything however they still play hockey there and you will find some very inaccurate curling rings painted on as well). On this day we stuck with the pools however before heading out to grab some dinner.
The group in the pool including our 2 new members. From left to right (again) Evan, Barb and Maggie (the new additions), Katie, Me, Nikki, Butro, Louise and Jenn. Verve (the new guide) is taking the picture.
I checked out the ice rink before we headed down the hill. Yes, it is starting to snow. Actually made things very pretty.
Found in the little pub we had dinner at.
After dinner and a few drinks we headed back to the hostel to hang-out by the fire and watch a movie. Monday was a planned travel day.....and we were all excited about the destination.
Monday August 15th, 2011
Monday we got set to head to one of New Zealand’s most iconic cities….Queenstown. Not sure what it is about the city but you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who has visited New Zealand and not visited Queenstown. Fergburger seems to have its own place in all the tourism books and it is the birth place of the commercial bungy jump. However, we didn’t make it Queenstown today…….or on any other day in the end. We woke up to the snow storm they had predicted…..and it closed all the roads in the morning.
We at least look warm and comfortable.
So we hung out and watched a movie (it quickly became my job to keep the fire stoked and with all the chopped dry wood I could burn, the room was always nice and toasty) and then we wandered into town to get a pie for lunch. There was a small number of people out and about. The town itself is very small but anyone who had arrived anytime before yesterday and didn't leave yet were also trapped in town so it was actually busier than I thought. I got to officially pull out my winter jacket for the first time today (thank-you Debi for dragging it back from Canada for me) and checked out the few little shops that were in town.
That's Verve. He likes playing in the snow.
Verve's snowman creation.
Nikki making snow angels. At least we found some fun with all the snow.
After lunch we went back to the accommodation and waited patiently to see if the road would be opening. At around 1300 (1:00pm) it was decided (by Verve and Burto) that we would NOT be leaving today because the roads didn’t sound good, so I threw in some laundry hoping to at least get some clean/dry clothes out of the delay.
At 1400 (2:00pm) it was decided that we WERE leaving and needed to leave RIGHT NOW (this is what happens when men are making travel plans, no matter how many times you confirm the plan……and I confirmed it 3 times, the plans will change at the last minute). So I grabbed my wet clothes out of the dryer and dragged them out to the van with everyone else’s gear.
We were all set to go when it was discovered that the key to the van had gone missing. We looked everywhere for it and I mean everywhere. Through all the bags, all the clothes, every room in the accommodation, the garbage bins, we walked the path back and forth to the pie shop again, asked at all the shops to see if anyone had turned one in…..we even checked at the police station. But the keys did not appear. While looking for the main key we also took some time to look for the spare. Turns out it was back in Christchurch.
So we dragged all our stuff back into the hostel because we were heading nowhere today with the plan to have a locksmith come Tuesday morning to open the van and crack open the dash board so Verve and Burto could drive it.
I was able to dry my clothes so at least that was a positive. Monday night we headed out for dinner as a group and then headed to a very small house party with some locals. Not much else to do in little Lake Tekapo but hopefully in the morning we would be packing up and moving on anyway.
Tuesday August 16th, 2011
Ohh look at all the pretty snow.
Nope, still here. Today we woke up to even more snow than yesterday. Appears the whole country is gripped in a snow storm not seen in many a year. In fact I’m being told that parts of the country are getting snow that haven’t seen snow in 15 to 50 years. Crazy and it makes for some pretty pictures but Lake Tekapo……not very exciting and not much to do.
Assume the position. We're in slightly different spots but mostly the same.
The van looks comfortable where it is, don't you think?
Good thing about this morning was that there seemed to be a very good Internet connection (maybe it's all the snow) so I made some Skype calls to everyone I could get a hold of, we watched some more movies and just hung out before making our daily pilgrimage down to the pie shop (you guys know by now that when I talk about pies I'm talking about meat pies right?).
Ok we did head outside for a few minutes to play in the snow and take a group photo. Yes as you can imagine this photo did in fact turn into a snowball fight but what do you do when the day looks like this.
Later that evening, many of the group hit up another local house party…..I however didn’t feel another evening sitting around drinking was a fun idea. Lake Tekapo doesn't offer that much entertainment but there are a few things you can do. So I headed up to Alpine Springs…….and went ice skating.
I can't lie, I do always find the snow pretty, but I would have found it just as pretty in Queenstown. But at least I got to go skating!!!!
When I first got there, there was a ton of people and little children who don’t normally skate on the ice and the surface was covered with about 20 centimetres of snow (it's an outdoor rink). However, I got out and did a few laps…..and it felt good. Then they got everyone off the ice and spent the next 40 minutes clearing it. It took that long because of how many times they had to go over it and empty the Zamboni to get the snow off. But I patiently waited and had a latte and talked to some people about Canada and it was fun.
Looks like someone else in New Zealand is an Oilers Fan!!!!!! I have such high hopes for them this year.
Once the Zamboni man got off the ice, I went back on and everyone else had gone home. So I had the whole ice to myself for as long as I wanted it. I think I skated for about an hour. I’ve tried to remember the last time I went ice skating……but I can’t. I’m thinking Red Deer on the river/pond though. Anyway, I really enjoyed it. Forgot how much I love the ice (and snow). I feel a return to a country with winter someday soon….but not just yet.
After a nice leisurely dinner, I curled up next to the fire with a book and had a nice relaxing evening with the hopes that Wednesday would be the day we moved on.
Wednesday, August 17th, 2011
Today we left Lake Tekapo...but none too early. Ryan gave the extra van key to the driver of the Intercity Bus (New Zealand’s Greyhound) in Christchuch and it was supposed to get to us by noon. The bus was delayed and when it finally did arrive, turns out one driver was supposed to pass the key on to the other driver and that never happened……so we still didn’t have the key. However, the locksmith got called, the van door was open, the dash board was cracked open and the van was rigged so we could start it.
I appreciated the beauty of the snow so much more today now that I know we're leaving.
Louise, Eilidh and I being very happy to be on the move again.
As you can imagine the whole group was super excited. Our destination was no longer Queenstown and for some that means they won’t get to see it this time around. I on the other hand will be back for 5 days once the tour is done so I’m not that concerned. We instead were heading to Wanaka…….a smaller version of Queenstown.
Some of the view on the way to Wanaka.
Verve on the phone setting up some things for us (ski rentals, hostel rooms etc, etc) while Burto drove. The good thing about having 2 guides is that stuff can get done a lot faster......and they brainstorm a lot.
It was a very relaxing evening. Spent just enough time eating and getting our stuff ready. Thursday we would return to the adventure that is a Haka Adventure tour.
Julie
