S/Circle Fino Casementi Christchurch

... were awful and the lake very cold, it is Kiwi tradition to jump into the lake whilst taking a picture mid-air! As the picture shows, jumping was the easy bit, but Rob will tell you swimming out when its that cold, is tough!!! The picture looks good though!!!!

Soon after, we arrived at the hostel and for the first time since we left home, we were able to cook for ourselves! After a yummy spag bol, we sat in front of the big fire and ended up ...

... I would call it a hike!). We cleaned up and then started heading to the airport for my early afternoon flight.  We stopped for brunch on the way to the airport and I was able to see more of the downtown Christchurch area. I had a great time in New Zealand, and as much as I could have stayed longer, I was ready to keep on the itinerary and was on my 1:30 flight bound for Melbourne. Till next time, from Australia!

Yesterday, we traveled from Queenstown to Christchurch with the main stop at Mt. Cook, nation's tallest peak. The backbone of the country are the southern alps which ar largely granite and make for constant viewing opps. Other than the Alps, the rest of the island is largely made of schist which remind me (Ray) of Uncle Bo when he went back to teaching geology and of his romanticized view of schist. Acutally I think Unlce Bo just liked saying the word ...

... muito melhor, e fizémos algumas caminhadas pela floresta, justo o que precisávamos para levantar a moral depois da chuva do dia anterior. Depois da floresta, dirigimo-nos de volta à costa e visitámos Timaru, a cidade saiu-nos menos interessante do que julgávamos pelo que tinhamos lido no guia... se calhar não fomos aos sítios certos! Nesse dia ainda conseguimos atravassar a espectacular região de Mackenzie e chegar ao Lago Tekapo. Depois da Austrália, as dist ...

... east coast, heading out to Mount Cook (spectacular views unfortunately clouded over on the day we were there), down to Dunedin and out to the peninsular to try and spot penguins, albatross, dolphins and seals. The albatross were nesting so we didn't see them, but we did spot some Heckter's dolphins surfing the waves in a little cove; we also managed to see some rare yellow eyed penguins making their way up from the sea to there nest site, often half ...

... this, but never mind. By the way, I've found another writing inspiration. Dean Sternes writes travel the way I want to write it. Chelsea Handler writes EVERYTHING the way I want to write it. I've literally been guffawing for the last two days, people in cafes and restaurants keep asking me what my book's about because I can't stop myself from laughing aloud. Mind you, I cried in the pub while reading The Lovely Bones, so laughing aloud is definitely an improvement.