19/8/9 Queenstown to Christchurch

Spud, our last driver for Kiwi picked us up for the drive to Christchurch. We drove out of Queenstown along the Karawau gorge with its river. There are many rivers running into the main river which are named after prostitutes working the area during the gold rush. There is Roaring Meg and Gentle Annie to name just two. We stopped in Cromwell for some breakfast and to collect some lunch for our picnic stop later, before crossing the bridge over the Dunstan Lake where the boys had jumped off before. We drove on passing the Cadrona ranges and through the Lindis Pass which reminded us of the Scottish highlands. It was a clear day and we had lovely scenery either side of us. We were then in McKenzie country named after a sheep rustler James McKenzie who was extradited to Australia after escaping jail numerous times. The Southern Alps are the quickest growing mountains in the world growing 30-40cm per year (eroding as fast though) Mt Cook NZ highest peak is 3754m but was 10 maters higher until the top 10m was lost in a huge rock fall. In Maori its name, Aoraki, means cloud piercer ! We then drove through some really low cloud which obliterated the views for a while and blocked all the view across Lake Piukaka where we had stopped for a look. Apparently there is an aqua blue lake with wonderful views of Mount Cook beyond it but we couldn't see any of that. We were taken about 15 more minutes up the road through the low cloud into clear blue skies to stop at Lake Tikapo for lunch. It was really amazing there with a beautiful lake surrounded by forestry and snowcapped mountains. We stayed for lunch staring mesmerised at the view. There was a tiny chapel, which was built in 1933, on the shore overlooking the lake with its window looking out onto the fabulous view. It was idyllic !!! We made an unexpected toilet stop in Geraldine home of our travelling companion from NZ. We knew that she was still travelling so we couldn't meet her even if we had realised that we would stop there. We popped into the local i-site (tourist info) to ask about the paper that Esta writes for and the lady in there asked us why we were after it. We said we had travelled with a local writer in South America and she immediately said "you must mean Esta Padden" Apparently the Paddens are well known round these parts!! We ahd no idea we had travelled with a celebrity. We got the name of the paper Timaru Herald so we can hopefully read some of the articles Esta wrote. Geraldine is a lovely little town surrounded by lovely agricultural land and rolling hills. After leaving Geraldine we travelled the last two hours into Christchurch watching an NZ movie called The Devil Dared Me To, a spoof about a stunt mans life...pretty funny stuff. Spud dropped most of the passengers off at the central Base backpackers whilst we were staying slightly out of town in a quieter backpackers. We dropped our bags off and went into town for a wander. Christchurch is based on English towns and has the River Avon running through it which you can punt down. the streets are all named after English cities and we are pleased to say there are both Hereford and Worcester streets as well as Manchester and Gloucester Streets..cool. Our hostel was off Manchester Street where we later on discovered all the ladies of the night hang out touting for trade...its legal over here ! We had a Chinese meal which was really yummy and found a really cute square lit with twinkling blue lights where there were 215 bars to have a beer. We returned to our hostel passing several call girls which was quite an experience as it is such an open trade here. Off to bed.

20/8/9 Christchurch

We got up after a little lie in....bliss. We walked into the town and called in at the i-site to see what we could see while we are here. It was a beautiful warm day (again) and we wandered around the souvenir shops and had breakfast in town. We ahve a bit of stuff to post from NZ including a load of clothes we shouldn't need now we are heading to hotter places at last. We called into the post office and collected a packing box, then went back to the hostel to pack it up to post later in the day. When we returned to the hostel and had packed the box Phil pulled our bin bag out of the bin only to get a wet hand....the previous occupants of the room had obviously pee-ed in the bin.....yuck !!! The good news is that we were upgraded to a motel suite with en suite and a kitchen/lounge to make up for the gross incident. The owner was mortified and continually apologised for ages. Poor Phil had a stinky hand for a while though. Thats the first time we have had any problems with any of our rooms. After that we took our parcel to the post office to be sent off and went to the internet to book afew things for Sydney and to complete the blog backlog....yippee we are back on track again. We have booked to go on our final Maori night tomorrow with a tour of a nature park to see nocturnal animals including the elusive Kiwi birds. It is our last full day in NZ before flying out to Sydney on Saturday.

21/8/9 Christchurch

We had a lie in and cups of tea in bed in our new plush apartment-Phils hand no longer stunk like a tom cat !!! After packing our bags and checking out we walked into town and stopped in Oxford on avon,a restaurant on the banks of the River Avon for a carvery which was enormous and really delicious. Phil took a few scenic shots of the river, fountains and punts going up the river. We went into town and booked a few activities for our time in Sydney and added some stuff to our blog. For our last evening in NZ we had booked a trip to see nocturnal wildlife and a Maori performance. We caught the bus at 6pm and were driven out to Kotane village where we were met with a traditional Maori challenge then welcome. We walked through a reconstructed village and went to a performance area where the group danced and sang some traditional songs. Liz joined the ladies and danced with the Poi balls and Phil got up on stage to do the Haka.......he was really scary !!!! Lisz has video evidence of the Haka for everyone to see. We then joined a tour round the ajoining wildlife park to see the nocturnal animals. The tour guide obviously was running late for a train as he whizzed round all the animals in about 20 minutes!!! We dawdled behind so we could actually see the creatures, Kiwi, Eels, Kea birds and Possums. Despite the rushed tour we enjoyed seeing the elusive Kiwi !!! When we got back to Christchurch we took a few night time shots of the town and then called into the backpackers bad where all the drinks were only $4 so we had to sample a few of the bargain cocktails and shots !!! We got pretty drunk and had some more drink at the Sol Square which we had found before . We sat in a cool little bar where there was a DJ playing vinyl record....some really classic tunes. Bit of a late night but really good.