We spent the last day on our tour bus driving back to Christchurch. We stopped at Franz Josef, the town with the other famous New Zealand glacier to refuel (above). We tried to go to Lake Matheson, another lake with a famous reflection, but of course it was raining. So we didn’t even get out of the bus. My goal to get a reflecty picture was thwarted once again. We stopped in Hokitika for lunch before driving through Otira gorge (above).
Since there are so many rockslides in the Otira gorge, they had to build a raised road to allow cars to get through (above). Our tour guide said that in the winter months it’s usually impassable due to avalanches. We stopped to look at the gorge and saw a kea, or an alpine parrot (above).
We made our afternoon stop at a hotel whose owner once claimed to see the extinct moa bird in an attempt to bring people to his hotel. The moa was a giant ostrich-like bird that stood 3 meters tall and was hunted to extinction by the Maori people (statue above). The owner’s ploy worked, and for a while lots of people came to his middle-of-nowhere hotel. Also while we stopped there, I saw this mushroom (above). I felt like I was in a Mario Brothers video game. Also, I took a picture of our tour bus while we were stopped (above).
On the way to Christchurch, we made a stop to see a place where movies were filmed. Our bus driver pointed out that this outcropping of rocks (above) was where the lion died in the Chronicles of Narnia movie. This grassy field (above) was used in Lord of the Rings, though our guide didn’t know what scene or what movie. Right next to the field was this rocky field (above), which Mary and I think was used in the Two Towers but the guide didn’t mention anything about that area specifically.
We made it to Christchurch at around 6 pm on Friday night and said goodbye to our tour group. Some of them were continuing on for another week and were getting to see the North Island, of which we were extremely jealous.
We had a day to kill in Christchurch on Saturday, which we began by enjoying scrumptious bagels in Cathedral Square. Apparently bagels haven’t caught on in Australia, so every time we find a bagel place we get really excited. Anyway, Cathedral Square (above) is home to the Christchurch Cathedral after which the town is named (above). The cathedral is named after a college in Oxford. We went into the Anglican cathedral and took some pictures (above). Also this bouquet-like thing is in Cathedral Square (above). While we were in the square, there was a Buddhist festival going on (above), so there were lots of performers. We went back to the market from the first day, and I bought a traditional Maori jade pendant like these (above), which is the quintessential New Zealand gift. Then we took refuge from the rain in the Christchurch Art Gallery, which had lots of normal paintings but was also home to a weird modern art exhibit. I mean come on, this inflatable bunny is just scary, it’s not art (above).
We went to bed early since we were getting picked up at 3:30 am for our 6:10 am flight back to Melbourne. After the flight, we were reunited with several other Walkabout-ers who had traveled New Zealand, and were transported to our new home in Melbourne.
My trip to New Zealand was an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime trip. I saw the most beautiful scenery in my life, and did some incredible things. I mean kayaking, bungy jumping, river boarding, glacier climbing… it was not an ordinary week to be sure.
I’m already planning my return trip, when I’ll visit the North Island… hopefully I’ll get back there someday. :-)
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