We've now been running around this country for a month in a slightly hectic pace. It's definitely rewarding given all the things we get to see and the experiences we're having, but it does take a toll eventually. So we were supposed to rest. And what do we do?! We climb a mountain (se below).
At least we are now carried around by ourselves in a lovely Nissan Sunny rented in Christchurch so we don't have to walk everywhere or take hysterically expensive shuttles to all the "encounters" and "adventures".
Right, I was supposed to tell you about the seal swim. It was fairly cold water indeed, and unfortunately the seals were a little bit bored that day so there were definitely more people than seals in the water, but I did get to swim with two moderately playful ones on a close range, so I'm happy. Maybe it was highly overpriced, but how many chances do you get, really?!
Well, here are the things we did up until now on our "vacation":
Here's The Wizard in Christchurch. He's a former english lecturer who now stands in the main square of Chch every mon-fri lecturing whoever is willing to listen on war, women and life in general. He sounds really smart, he's funny and he's got some weird ideas on womens role in the world. But definitely worth listening to!
In Kura Tawhiti, on the way across the Southern Alps through Arthurs Pass we stopped for a look at some seriously weird shapes of lime stone. It was a short and nice, imagination triggering walk. they actually used this site for something in "The Lion, the Witch and the Warderobe" (yes, they were here too...).
I wasn't comepletely satisfied with the placing of some rocks though, and I did my best to correct these mistakes.
In Hokotika on the West Coast we stayed for a little indoor activities since the weather wasn't so kind to us anymore. Steve here taught us a bit about bone carving and we worked on our pieces for about five hours before we were satisfied. The results might be shown later, or when we're back home again :)
Despite the rainy weather we went on a little tour around Hokitika and saw this amazing gorge in the middle of nowhere. And again it needs to be pointed out: NO Photoshop! It was really that crazy blue!
On our way down the coast we passed the two glaciers, Franz Joseph and Fox. We voted against any trips onto the ice because of the grey weather but we got close enough with the car and some view points. I'm here waiting for something to happen (the cold winds from over the ice eventually made us go back to the car and turn some heating on). It was truly an odd feelig walking through rainforest and then suddenly bump into a glacial river with huge ice blocks floating along and at its end a fairly large glacier. This country makes no sense.
Once again heading for the mountains, from Haast towards Wanaka, we stopped for a few walks in teh rainforest to look at all kinds of waterfalls. Funnily enough it was always the sidekicks that were the most interesting things, like this swinging bridge for instance.
Once we reached Wanaka we were supposed to rest for a couple of days to have the energy to start running around again, but the sun was shining... so we climbed Mt Roy. 1100 metres ascent to some fantastic views, but no - we didn't feel very rested when we got down again. Roi got a phonecall from home somewhere in the middle that granted us a needed stop.
The views though were all worth it! 360 degrees of beautiful mountain panorama including two lakes, a glacier and alps as far as you can see. Nice and sunny weather didn't ruin anything either.
So this is where we are now. All is well (except for some sore leg muscles), the future is booked, and we are actually resting today. So now it's off for some ice cream!
Take care!
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