Day 1 Wellington to Twizel May 19
Hilary & I flew Pacific Blue airline to Christchurch at 08:15, so an early start. When we landed, it was a ‘balmy’ 0 degrees, quite a shock to the system but we were prepared with our hats & boots. Picked up the hire car, but realised I’d forgotten my all-important letter authorising my staff discount. Resolved to email Delia later to try & rectify the problem, otherwise would be much too expensive. We hired a manual car, which was cheaper, which meant I had to do all the driving, since Hilary can no longer remember how to drive a manual. Strange that manuals are still cheaper here, given that most Kiwis drive automatics so they must be much more plentiful. Drove straight out of CHC along Highway 1 until we reached ‘the Inland Scenic Route’ turn-off for Geraldine. I have to say the Canterbury Plain was very boring, not much to see at all until we reached Geraldine, where we had a very pleasant stop for coffee. After that the road started to climb slowly through Burkes Pass towards the snow-capped mountains, through the beginning of the ‘High Country’. I am full of admiration for the pioneers who made, & continue to make, a living from this rough pastureland, which is Mackenzie Country, and does look very much like Scotland. However, we didn’t see many sheep at all, apparently there are now ‘only’ 30 million in NZ, where there used to be 50 million. A lot of farmers have converted to dairy, because there is so much more money to be made. Certainly dairy products are very expensive here, cheese is now so dear it is out of the range of the poorest families and those of us who can sort of afford it wait for ‘Specials’. Lots of late autumn colour, but we are a little late for the true beauty, mostly golds rather than browns and reds as in the UK, but very unlike the North Is, where the seasons hardly show at all in the trees. We headed for Lake Tekapo, where we visited the Church of the Good Shepherd, built in the 1930s out of local stone as a gathering place for those hardy souls, with a spectacular view from the window over the altar out over the lake. Hilary took a picture but you weren’t supposed to, so I’ve only got the outside view, being a law-abiding Brit! Then we journeyed on to Lake Pukahi with spectacular views of Mount Cook, the highest mountain in NZ, my picture doesn’t do it justice, it is the sort of 2 pronged roof-like one! It’s Maori name is Aoraki, which coincidentally is the name of the road where my house is going to be built, mine will be 11 Aoraki Rise. Aoraki was a Maori God apparently. Kept seeing the same people along the way, roads very empty, this is the ‘in-between’ time, too late for Summer and too early for ski-ing, though we passed lots of ski areas along the way. Ended up late Monday afternoon in Twizel, which was closed! Erola & friends did laugh at us staying in Twizel, it is a ‘new’ town, only built in the 1960s to house workers building the nearby dam system. I didn’t realise before today that the vast majority of NZ power is hydro-electric, will definitely be a problem this winter because there is very little water in the rivers after a very long hot summer, so there will be power cuts. In fact our YHA room was the best we encountered on our trip, the heater was already on, there was a fridge, ensuite, tea & coffee maker & a TV, definitely spoilt! I think we were the only people in the place, which was huge, there may have been a couple of others! We had to go to the local pub for our evening meal, it being the only place open, my introduction to the male South Islander. A rough tough breed indeed, I think Hilary caused a bit of a stir with her coiffured hair & red-painted nails! The meal was fine though, & we were lovely & warm next to the wood-burner, & slept very well in our nice warm room afterwards.
Hilary & I flew Pacific Blue airline to Christchurch at 08:15, so an early start. When we landed, it was a ‘balmy’ 0 degrees, quite a shock to the system but we were prepared with our hats & boots. Picked up the hire car, but realised I’d forgotten my all-important letter authorising my staff discount. Resolved to email Delia later to try & rectify the problem, otherwise would be much too expensive. We hired a manual car, which was cheaper, which meant I had to do all the driving, since Hilary can no longer remember how to drive a manual. Strange that manuals are still cheaper here, given that most Kiwis drive automatics so they must be much more plentiful. Drove straight out of CHC along Highway 1 until we reached ‘the Inland Scenic Route’ turn-off for Geraldine. I have to say the Canterbury Plain was very boring, not much to see at all until we reached Geraldine, where we had a very pleasant stop for coffee. After that the road started to climb slowly through Burkes Pass towards the snow-capped mountains, through the beginning of the ‘High Country’. I am full of admiration for the pioneers who made, & continue to make, a living from this rough pastureland, which is Mackenzie Country, and does look very much like Scotland. However, we didn’t see many sheep at all, apparently there are now ‘only’ 30 million in NZ, where there used to be 50 million. A lot of farmers have converted to dairy, because there is so much more money to be made. Certainly dairy products are very expensive here, cheese is now so dear it is out of the range of the poorest families and those of us who can sort of afford it wait for ‘Specials’. Lots of late autumn colour, but we are a little late for the true beauty, mostly golds rather than browns and reds as in the UK, but very unlike the North Is, where the seasons hardly show at all in the trees. We headed for Lake Tekapo, where we visited the Church of the Good Shepherd, built in the 1930s out of local stone as a gathering place for those hardy souls, with a spectacular view from the window over the altar out over the lake. Hilary took a picture but you weren’t supposed to, so I’ve only got the outside view, being a law-abiding Brit! Then we journeyed on to Lake Pukahi with spectacular views of Mount Cook, the highest mountain in NZ, my picture doesn’t do it justice, it is the sort of 2 pronged roof-like one! It’s Maori name is Aoraki, which coincidentally is the name of the road where my house is going to be built, mine will be 11 Aoraki Rise. Aoraki was a Maori God apparently. Kept seeing the same people along the way, roads very empty, this is the ‘in-between’ time, too late for Summer and too early for ski-ing, though we passed lots of ski areas along the way. Ended up late Monday afternoon in Twizel, which was closed! Erola & friends did laugh at us staying in Twizel, it is a ‘new’ town, only built in the 1960s to house workers building the nearby dam system. I didn’t realise before today that the vast majority of NZ power is hydro-electric, will definitely be a problem this winter because there is very little water in the rivers after a very long hot summer, so there will be power cuts. In fact our YHA room was the best we encountered on our trip, the heater was already on, there was a fridge, ensuite, tea & coffee maker & a TV, definitely spoilt! I think we were the only people in the place, which was huge, there may have been a couple of others! We had to go to the local pub for our evening meal, it being the only place open, my introduction to the male South Islander. A rough tough breed indeed, I think Hilary caused a bit of a stir with her coiffured hair & red-painted nails! The meal was fine though, & we were lovely & warm next to the wood-burner, & slept very well in our nice warm room afterwards.
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