Day 1 Sydney to Christchurch to Ashburton

We had an eventful start to our trip of the "land of the long white cloud" and sheep with a difficult taxi driver for our trip to Sydney airport, a delayed flight with Virgin Australia and on arrival in Christchurch a hire car with no keys, eventually these were found and we then on our way in our red Corolla. We had only driven about 10km before we saw our first sheep of the trip. We drove to Ashburton for our first night stay, which is about 83km from Christchurch and on the way to Lake Tekapo and Mount Cook. We were pretty tired and on our arrival we were met with a wonderful greeting by Kay and a very welcome cup of freshly made coffee with an upgrade to a king bed suite, so we immediately relaxed into the holiday mode. We had dinner at the local bistro and a stroll of the town, the night was fairly cool but the motel had heated towel rails and other comforts and we soon were very snug.

Day 2 Ashburton to Mount Cook

We set off with a cloudy 15deg morning and by the time we reached Lake Tekapo the day was sunny and warm with a haze on the horizon. The countryside is just awesome and we did some backroad driving to Lake Tekapo through very narrow roads with amazing views. Lake Tekapo is stunning and by this stage WOW was the word of the day. We headed for Mt John Observatory and the Astro Café which is about 4km west of Lake Tekapo. You head up a very narrow winding road to the top of the mountain where there is an observatory which is manned by different nations for research and a wonderful café which is all glass even the ceiling and has 360degree views of the surrounding area, with both inside and outside seating to take advantage of the view. The perfect place to have a morning tea of scones, jam and cream, which we did! After this we hit the road for Mount Cook and travelled along the shore of Lake Pukaki with Mount Cook dominating the view. We arrived at our accommodation, The Hermitage Hotel with of course views of Mount Cook and the Tasman valley. Mount Cook is 3,695M (12,120ft) high with three peaks and each summer 150 climbers are granted approval to make the ascent. We then headed for our 3.30pm tour with Glacier Explorers for a trip on the Blue Lake to the Tasman Glacier which is 29km long and 3km wide. We were very fortunate to have a perfect sunny afternoon about 25degrees with no wind and headed off for a short drive then a 1.5km walk to the "not so" Blue Lake, it is in fact a chalky colour due to the grinding of the rock and ice. We then boarded yellow raft boats after being kitted with safety vests and spray jackets and advised the safety rules. The water is a "warm" 2 degrees for about a metre, and then becomes even colder eventually being frozen so they warn you to not fall in. The spray jackets are definitely needed as the boats sit low in the water and you get a lot of spray, we both looked like drown rats on our return but it was fun. We headed off towards the glacier which has receded 10km in 40 years. The walls of the glacier vary between 150 - 200metres in height and when you see another boat on the water against this landscape it really puts things into perspective. While the glacier is receding and there are icebergs floating in the lake it is not common to see icebergs coming away from the face of the glacier, we sadly, experienced this not once but twice on our tour, which was overwhelming to see a piece of the 200metre wall face break off into the water. This has really made me think about what is happening to our planet..as I saw this glacier in 1978 and to think I was now in a boat on a lake that was once solid ice over 300metre thick above the water line and it has now gone is pretty daunting. This will be an unforgettable experience in a most beautiful environment. I could not soak in enough of the beauty of the area. We headed back to our hotel and enjoyed a buffet dinner in the Panorama Restaurant of Bluff oysters, salmon, roast beef and of course Pavlova and some other delicious sweets. We covered over 300km in our drive this day.

Day 3 Mount Cook to Dunedin

The morning was clear and 17degrees and we left the beauty of Mount Cook for Dunedin. We drove along numerous lakes which have been dammed and through gorgeous countryside via Twizel and with of course sheep and dairy cows. We saw Maori carvings and had coffee in Kurow a pretty little town. After arriving in Dunedin, which is a university city and the fourth largest in NZ set on a gorgeous harbour, we headed for the Visitor Centre to organise some tours. We first went to Olveston House a Jacobean style 35room mansion which was built in1909 by Thomas Theomin and had every convenience and knick knack of its day, he was definitely a man who liked who his gadgets and he a dressing room for his clothes and his wife had only a wardrobe!!. A wonderful house that was built to accommodate his many collections of art and Eastern sculptures which are all on display as the house was bequeathed to Dunedin by his daughter Dorothy when she died in 1966. Interestingly he married a girl from St Kilda Melbourne who lived in Levin house just up from our unit. There is also a St Kilda Beach in Dunedin which is famous for its surf. Following Olveston House we went to Baldwin Street "the world's steepest street" according to the Guinness Book of Records, which we walked up and down, thankfully it has 270 steps to help you climb this heartbreak hill, but the view is worth it from the top. Later in the afternoon we then set off to Penguin Place about 23km from Dunedin on the Otago Peninsula to see the rare yellow eyed penguins, again we had to walk up and down numerous steps and hills to get to the "trenches" to see these wonderful little creatures in their native habitat. The drive is on a narrow winding road across the top of the Otago peninsula with the most incredible scenery. We arrived back at our motel about 8.30pm and ate in room after another wonderful day.