Week two: Lake Tekapo, Queenstown, Wanaka and Queenstown again

On Tues 21st we picked up our hire car on from Jucy (don't ask!) and left Christchurch on a dull, rainy day. After driving across the flat Canterbury Plains and a brief stop at Geraldine for lunch and to pick up provisions we started climbing into the Southern Alps. The clouds cleared, giving us a view of the stunning mountains and valleys. We arrived in the small resort of Lake Tekapo to the sight of the dazzling blue lake caused by rock flour washed into the water from the surrounding glaciers. It is really hard to describe the colour - it seems almost unnatural.
We climbed up to the observatory at the top of Mount John which, it's fair to say, was a lot steeper and higher than I anticipated, but it was worth it for the spectacular views from the top. Our motel room opened out onto the lake so we ate dinner and breakfast looking out over the most beautiful sight over the lake with mountains in the background.
After one night at Lake Tekapo we drove onto Queenstown, stopping briefly in the pretty fruit-growing town of Cromwell. Our motel in Queenstown also had stunning views over Lake Wakatipu with the Remarkables Mountain range in the distance (so called because they run exactly north to south). During the two days in Queenstown we went up the gondola to Bob's Peak then rode on the luge and in the afternoon took a spin in a jet-boat across tha lake and up the Kawarau River, getting soaked when it turned. We met up for a drink with an ex-pupil Jess Palmer and her boyfriend who had been living in Australia and were travelling around New Zealand before heading back to the UK. It's funny how you still bump into people from home on the other side of the world! We also enjoyed huge Fergburgers, a speciality of Queenstown.
On Saturday we drove over the mountains to Wanaka, stopping at the old hotel in Cardrona for coffee. The motel room again had beautiful views of Lake Wanaka and the mountains behind. Is it possible to get bored of these amazing views? We went for a walk along the lake, did some shopping and went for a delicious Italian meal. On Sunday it was raining so we had a lazy lunch then went to Cinema Paradiso to watch a film where you can sit on sofas or even in an old car!
Today we have driven back to Queenstown for the night before picking up our camper van to drive up to Auckland. That should be an interesting trip!

First week - Bangkok, Auckland and Christchurch

What a week! We flew overnight on Monday to Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. We stayed for two nights in an amazing modern hotel in a room on the 35th floor with fantastic views over the city. We had a day of site-seeing, visiting the Wat Pho temple to see the giant golden reclining Buddha statue and the beautiful old wooden buildings and gardens at Jim Thompson's house. It is obvious that Thailand is a rapidly developing country with many new skyscrapers being built, huge shopping malls and a modern Skytrain transport system. However, there were glimpses of the poverty some Thais still live in.
We then had another 11 hour flight to New Zealand and stayed for one night in Auckland on the North Island before catching yet another flight to Christchurch, the largest city on the South Island. This beautiful city was devastated by two earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 which killed 185 people. It is very eerie and sad, seeing a once beautiful and bustling city centre, which was full of tourists when I visited in 2002, reduced to dust, empty boarded up buildings and rubble. Three years on from the earthquake people here are trying to rebuild their city and there are examples of this in the temporary shopping centre made of shipping containers and the new cathedral made a giant cardboard tubes.
Yesterday we travelled to the Banks Peninsular which used to be a separate island formed by an ancient extinct volcano, but is now linked to the mainland. The crater of the volcano is now open to the sea, forming a large sheltered harbour in which the pretty town of Akoroa sits. The weather was hot and sunny so we enjoyed sitting on the harbour eating fish and chips, watching the boats come in from their whale and dolphin watching trips.

Tomorrow we hire a car and head off for a tour around the South Island. Wish us luck!

Getting prepared

Getting excited about our trip. Feels a bit weird not being at school now everyone is back. Need to start packing soon, but I need to remember to pack summer clothes!