a quick blast around part of the south island oct 24-31
picked up visiting work acquaintance late night at christchurch airport
through to ashburton for an overnight stay at my parents place
next day drove inland to methven to view a snow-laden mt hutt
then through to dunedin via geraldine timaru and oamaru
first night in dunedin spent with my sister and family
sleeping in their bus converted to a holiday home
did the tairei gorge train trip on a beautiful spring day
the night was spent playing pool in celebration of niece's 18th birthday
day 3 and destination lake hawea in central otago
first stop being a cold but impressive white hill wind farm
then a drive up the eastern side of lake wakatipu
to get to queenstown in time for a blast on the shotover jet
totally environmentally unfriendly but a lot of fun to be had
then a drive across the crown range to lake hawea
where accomodation had been arranged
at the holiday home of a friend of my sister
this meant 2 more days of travelling back and forward
over the crown range but a great drive so a good trade-off
day 4 took in the skyline gondola and the luge
i.e. acting like kids on carts on a downhill concrete track
maturity kicked in on saturday afternoon for the wine trail
visiting various wineries in the area and sampling their wares
dinner at lake wanaka speights ale house
day 5 sunday included a cruise on beautiful lake wakatipu
on board the tss earnslaw
followed by a brilliant drive to glenorchy 40 minutes from queenstown
then a drive up to coronet peak and a step onto the snow
closest we got on this supposed-to-be skiing trip
back to lake hawea for the last night there
before next day heading over the haast pass to the west coast
stopping at various rivers and beaches along the way
boarded a helicopter at franz joseph for a great trip to the top of the glacier
then a picturesque drive for quite a distance to the town of greymouth
dinner at speights ale house again and an overnight stay in el-cheapo motel
day 7 was destination charleston via the impressive punakaiki pancake rocks
discovered and totally enjoyed the nile river rainforest train
before the return journey to greymouth
and across arthurs pass to descend onto the canterbury plains (photo above)
a bit of sightseeing in chrsitchurch and another el-cheapo-ish hotel
day 8 in and around the city including orana park and the antarctic centre
before heading back to the airport to bid farewell to my travelling companion
all in all a very successful, enjoyable (and relatively) cheap trip
great weather too....
