As we began our journey from Christchurch to Queenstown, our first stop was actually inland and not really on the route we would be taking around the south end of the island. Lake Tekapo and Mt.Cook are two of the main attractions in South Island and we wanted to find out why.
Driving through the countryside we soon came across field after field of brightly coloured Lupins, which looked all the more stunning with the backdrop of snow capped mountains (PIC). Reaching Lake Tekapo we couldn't believe our eyes - the water looked as if it had been dyed a vivid aquamarine, so bright that it almost glowed. The vibrant colour against the green of the lush countryside and the white of the mountains produced a spectacular scene before us (PICS).
On the banks of the lake we found the Church of the Good Shepherd, a tiny chapel with one of the most breathtaking views any churchgoers in the world would be lucky enough to experience (PICS).
Less than 30 minutes from Lake Tekapo lies Lake Pukaki, at the base of Mt.Cook. The unusual overnight snowfall that they had received in the area meant that Mount Cook and the surrounding mountains had an impressive coating of the white stuff - unfortunately the cloud in the area meant that we couldn't see any of it! All we saw was a milky blue lake and a few lower, nearby mountains (PIC).
We had originally booked to go on a boat trip from Mt.Cook that would take us out to the Tasman glacier, unfortunately it took us over an hour to get out of the centre of Christchurch (damn traffic lights!) and as a result we had missed the boat trip departure time. This eventually turned out to be a blessing as the visibility was so bad due to the low clouds that we wouldn't have seen much anyway. We would have to try and revisit the area from Queenstown in between Christmas and New Year.
We made our way back out to the east coast and stayed overnight at a caravan park in Oamaru. As soon as we arrived we were greeted with the information that the town had just had a mains water pipe burst and the entire town was without water for the night! No showers or flushing of toilets for us then! Luckily we hadn't wasted our money checking into an ensuite room - we just made do with a standard room and bottled water.
Just south of Oamaru we stopped at the Moeraki Boulders - a collection of giant spherical rocks dotted along the beach. The strange arrangement of these boulders created a bizarre landscape, and some great pictures (PICS). They almost got Andrew soaked as he lined up a shot only to be surprised by a sudden wave which decided to charge about 15 metres further up the shore than any of the others. Andrew just managed to get out of the way in time - and take a couple of shots while the water was all around the boulders.
Continuing our journey south we came to Dunedin. A town known for its Scottish character among other things - such as New Zealand's only castle, their most photographed building, and the worlds steepest street!
We took photos of their massive ornate Train station (PIC), and St Paul's Cathedral and Info centre (which must have been something else in the past) (PIC). We paused for a quick snap of Dunedin's First church (PIC) and then went looking for the 'World's steepest street'. The streets name is Baldwin Street and at a gradient of 1:2.6 (or 19%) it looks and imposing sight (PICS) - certainly one you wouldn't want to ride your bicycle up! We took a run up and drove to the top - we couldn't get the car beyond first gear and when we reached the summit we could see even more clearly how crazy an angle the houses needed to be built to remain upright.
New Zealand's only castle, Larnach Castle, is situated on a hill at the top of the Otago Peninsula, just outside Dunedin. The windy coastal road and steep inland roads led us to the castle grounds where we ate our lunch and took a look around the gardens (PICS). The castle is fairly modest by Welsh standards (more of an extravagant Manor House) but it did have great outlooks over the gardens and archipelago of little islands surrounding the peninsula.
Comparing our timescale for getting to Queenstown and the distances involved in travelling along the Catlins Coast, we opted not to take the scenic drive along the coastline and instead headed inland towards Invercargill. This town is another with a supposed Scottish influence, though we saw very little evidence of this in either Dunedin or Invercargill.
We did however see an ancient prehistoric reptile, which is being successfully bred at the Southland Museum & Art Gallery in Invercargill. The Tuatara (PICS) looks like many other lizards that you would see in a reptile park, zoo, or in the wild in Australia, but they are apparently extremely rare and unusually long lived. The eldest one they had on site was well over 100 years of age!
The town of Invercargill had a few interesting structures erected in the very centre, such as 'The Crescent' and the War Memorial (PICS). We passed these on our way through the town to get out to the Bluff - New Zealand's most southerly point. To mark this fact a signpost has been put up to show the distances to various places (PIC) - we were amazed to discover that we were as close to the equator as we were to the South Pole, especially as most of the weather we had experienced since arriving in New Zealand was more indicative of the latter.
The bluff lookout had great views over Stewart Island and the surrounding coastline, the current weather remaining fine enough to afford us a clear view and a great panoramic (PIC).
From the country's most southerly point we had no choice but to head north! We drove all the way to Queenstown, pausing at various points along the way to take in the fantastic views over Lake Wakatipu (PICS) before reaching the adrenalin capitol of the world!
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