I'm beck. Beck in Christchurch

Yep, finished my loop of the central south island and back in Christchurch now. You can really tell it's spring here, all the trees and flowers are starting to bloom, and Christchurch is really the kind of city which is best viewed in the springtime so I'll be glad to get back here again later when it's in full swing.

Left Dunedin on Wednesday and to be honest was pretty glad to get out of there. I quite liked it the first time I visited but this time around it just seemed grey and dreary and I couldn't wait to get back out into the countryside. And I've seen some of New Zealand's best since then - we drove up the coast (stopping by the Moeraki Boulders which are pretty cool, if you like round rocks. And I do), then turned inland through the Otago countryisde, which I love, and finally back to the Southern Alps, which I'd missed terribly in the few days I'd been away from them. Got my first look at Aoraki (also known as Mt Cook but i refuse to use such a dull name when I can refer to him as the Cloud-Piercer. that rocks) across Lake Pukaki, which along with Lake Tekapo are incredibly beautiful lakes, managing to combine mirror-like reflections with incredibly blue water.



Really enjoyed my stay in Lake Tekapo too, it was just one day but seemed much longer I enjoyed it that much. I've actually visited everywhere I've been on this trip at least once before, but only briefly, so it's been really interesting how my impressions of these places have changed after spending some time there. I only stopped at Tekapo for lunch on a bus trip before and thought it was kind of pretty but not really impressed, but after getting to explore the countryside around it I really enjoyed it. I've got a better appreciation for the landscape too - Mt John, which I'd barely even registered as a hill beside the lake, seemed much taller and impressive this time (Probably because this time I knew I was going to walk to the top, and have a better idea of the effort that involves. Which wasn't that bad at all actually, luckily Tekapo is already at 700m so it doesn't take long to get to the 1000m summit. Bargain ). The view from up there was fantastic, spent ages just sitting around on the summit enjoying the view, and then went back up again that night for the stargazing tours at the observatory there. It wasa full moon, which was a bit of a mixed blessing because the 360 degree view of the surrounding plains, lake and mountains was just unreal bathed in the moonlight. I could have stayed up there all night, but thought I should go down to recover some feeling in my hands and feet becuase it was cold up there and i'd lost my gloves. But unfortunately the moon did blocked out a lot of the stars, as they're supposed to be amazing on a clear night, so I'll have to consult the almanac to plan another visit when it's a new moon.



So that brings me back to Christchurch, after another great drive through the farmland of the Mackenzie Country, where I was almost reduced to tears of culinary joy on discovering first a carvery where I could get a roast pork sandwich for lunch (they're surprisingly hard to find over here, and we'd been passing sheep and cows all day and I was hungry. Notice I chose pork though - I'm not a complete monster. We didn't see any pigs at all.) and then, finally, donuts. Hot donuts. Which are virtually non-existent over here and which is why Mario and I plan to open a donut franchise over here. It's just the perfect climate for hot donuts, and yet they're nowhere to be found. i can't understand it. But anyway, it leaves a definite market opening for us, and don't worry Mario, they were only mini-donuts so if we move fast we can get set up before they discover the technology to make full-sized ones. So I took my donuts and went and sat in the gardens where all the daffodils are in bloom, and all was well with the world.



Man, that's a long post. I"m still on a bit of a sugar-high from the donuts I think. Anyway, here until Sunday, and then to Kaikoura to go whale watching. Hurrah.