April 17th, New Zealand Day 2

The tour was scheduled to begin at 08:00 this morning from Base Backpackers Christchurch, so I decided to awake early to take some photos of the central square before I left. Cathedral Square, as the name suggests, is dominated by Christ Church Cathedral, an imposing structure. There are various other buildings of interest around as well as a streetcar system that goes through the downtown area. I managed to get some hot chocolate at a Starbuck's on the square and I chatted with a former O.P.P. officer from Thunder Bay I had met the previous night. He was also doing some traveling to indulge himself in his favourite past time, fly-fishing.

As the hour of departure approached, I made my way back to the front of the hostel where a bus was parked and a crowd had gathered. Some people I recognized from the plane, university and even my bus ride the previous evening. There were 2 Japanese girls who were speaking about me behind my back on that ride wondering how I could not be cold, as I was wearing a t-shirt and shorts. They apparently assumed that I could not speak the language and although it is not far from the truth, 4 years of studying Japanese in high school has yielded results. Throughout the tour I spoke with them, and a few others, sporadically in Japanese. Yet the vast majority of people, almost 40 as I recall, I had never seen before, and sadly, our paths will likely never cross once more.

The bus trip began with our tour leaders introducing themselves. Jessica (Jess/Jesse) was a native of Western Australia who had found a job as a tour guide in New Zealand. Her job took her up and down the same 15-day route for several months, never staying in the same place for very long. I have been a tour guide myself, though not for that long for any one tour, and the monotony of seeing the terrain over and over again, though I don't think I could ever tire of it, is broken only by the personalities of the groups that she leads. Behind the wheel of our bus was Scott, a native Kiwi from the northern tip of the South Island. Both of them would prove to be enjoyable people, the kind you wouldn't mind touring with for ages. We were also told that every morning, to wake us up on the bus, we would be treated to Dave Dobbyn's Slice of Heaven, not a bad song actually. Dobbyn is from New Zealand and it is a very well known song in that country. Over the next few minutes, as we left the flat Canterbury Plains and made our way into the foothills of the Alps, all of the people on board introduced themselves. I was the only Canadian but we were all a mix of several nationalities: British (the largest contingent), Irish, American, Japanese, Korean, Swedish, Danish, Dutch and Australian. If you will excuse the pun, over the coming days, bonds of fellowship formed, in some cases quite strongly, among all of us.

Our route that day took us first to the town of Geraldine, home of the world's largest sweater, although the locals call it a jersey. The person who knitted it also made a recreation of the Bayeux Tapestry, the famous rug which has on it the Battle of Hastings, in the form of a mosaic. I have a photo of the sweater but time did not allow me to see the Bayeux Tapestry. Along the way, I had noticed that the railroads in New Zealand seemed smaller that usual and I asked Jess and Scott if they knew if the railroads were narrow gauge or if my eyes were just deceiving me. They didn't know the answer, and I would not learn the truth until 10 days later. The answer actually made sense of another thing I knew about New Zealand, but more on that later.

The drive after Geraldine, to our first stop of Lake Ohau (OH-hahw) was filled with spectacular scenery. The clouds gave way as we approached that mountains and we were treated to some stunning views. This day, I would take over 80 photographs, more that any other single day, and in some cases, more than many days combined. Our first rest stop was by the side of the main road where there was an amazing vista of the Southern Alps in front of us. We then proceeded to the small township as it is called, really no more than a hamlet of 400, called Lake Tekapo (TEH-kah-poh). There the water was calm and very blue. The rivers that feed into the lake are fed by the glaciers in the highlands and the water is very pure. We all then hiked up the nearby mountain of Mt. John and from there, an unspoiled 360 degree view allowed us to see the region.

Our next stop was Lake Pukaki (POOH-kah-kee), also a glacier-fed lake, but also used for the production of hydroelectricity. The dam built was quite large and the feeder pipes were equally impressive. The photos will show an area dominated by sparse grasslands, which are a result of the Maori burning the forests that were once there to hunt the now extinct moa (MOH-wah); a bird, much like an ostrich or an emu. Now, the area is grassland mainly for the ever-present sheep. Across Lake Pukaki, you could see Aoraki (AH-oh-rah-kee), the "Cloud Piercer", also known Mount Cook. This is New Zealand's highest peak, rising to an elevation of 3 754 meters. This would not be my only encounter with the Cloud Piercer.

Finally, as the day waned, we made our way to the secluded Lake Ohau, nestled in a valley beneath some high mounts. It reminded me very much of my uncle's place in Tucson, AZ, though colder and more green. We all made our way to our rooms, and then to dinner. Before I ate, I took a stroll by Lake Ohau and admired the scenery. Aoraki's peak was just visible in the distance over the surrounding mountains. Daylight gave way to night and I was treated to some of the clearest skies I have ever seen. The Southern Cross burned brightly overhead reminding me always how far I was from Canada, and yet the landscape was not all that unfamiliar. I managed to snap some sunset photos before night fell and I played ping-pong with some people before settling in for the night.

Photos are now available at: http://newzealandday2.blogspot.com/