Christchurch

We left lake Tekapo at 9am, and the chilly evening weather from the night before carried onto the next day. Mangee whacked the heaters up as we snuggled into the bus to keep warm. We had a mid morning breakfast stop, where Steph bought a over expensive gingerbread man, and we all talked about what we were expecting from Christchurch.

The drive was fairly short so we didn't have to wait long to see as we arrived just after lunch. Izzy would be carrying on to the airport in Christchurch, so once again our group became smaller, as Annie was also going to stay in Christchurch when we left the following day, because she wanted to do some from farm work in New Zealand.

We were also hugely sad at the loss of Mangee, our driver, as he needed the following day as a rest day. He was the best driver by far, and if it wasn't for time constraints, we would have stayed as long as we needed to be on Mangees bus. He was so passionate and good at his job, it was such a shame to have to leave him behind!

We were staying at the first YMCA on the trip, and it was beautifully decorated with artful bright graffiti.

As we were only spending one day in Christchurch we wasted no time taking a look around the city, and the wreckage that was left after the earthquake.

We had been previously warned that Christchurch was still a bit of a ghost town after the event, but it really was as if the natural disaster had only struck weeks before. Everywhere you looked there were buildings stripped down so you could see right inside, and mounds of rubble here and there. 

One building that prominently took center stage down the road from our hostel was the old police building that towered over the city. We noticed signs to say the roads nearby could be closed the following day because they would be imploding the remains of the building which was exciting for us but quite a sobering reminder of the impact the earthquake had on Christchurch .

We saw some really sad sights, such as the 185 chair memorial dedicated to all the lives lost in the earthquake, each seat belonging to one of the victims. The baby chair sitting right at the front of the memorial was especially hard to stomach, and it left a few of our group feeling quite weepy.

It was not all sadness though, as the city shows signs of prosperous return, such as the cardboard cathedral that proves any materials can be used in this day and age, and also the shipping container mall, that is bright with shops and street food. It had reclaimed materials such as bells from local churches that were destroyed made into upside down plant pots, and these types of innovative ideas could put Christchurch back on track, perhaps in an eco friendly, sustainable way which has rarely been seen before.

Cardboard Pews

 The sculptures and street art really are something to be noted, a glimpse of colour and hope rising from the chaos and wreckage, works of art that have a message appreciated on every street corner.

As we walked home we saw a spectacular sunset, and also a local church that looked as if it had been dissected and left half way through. Obviously affected by the disaster.

That evening we cooked food, reflected and lifted spirits by playing our new favourite game 'fun' again.

The next day we left Christchurch, and with it Annie and friends to see the police building be demolished.

Lake Tekapo

We were really excited for our next location on the trip, as Lake Tekapo (or Take-a-poo as it had become amongst our friends) was a famous area for star gazing due to the very low light pollution in the area. 

Before we got to hostel we were staying at, Mangee took us to a few locations first! The first was just to a cafe for a morning coffee but there was also an unusual fruit sculpture that a friend had told us to visit previously.

Next was to a huge lake where Mount cook was in prime viewing position. The lake was a gorgeous turquoise colour, and Mangee said he usually encouraged people to take a dip, but today it was just too cold!

We also stopped at some picturesque places on road sides to soak in the view and stretch our legs. With young Archie constantly hyper, he insisted on a photo opportunity with a toy wolf he found!

As we approached Tekapo, Mangee took us to an iconic location, which was a church just teetering on the edge of the lake. The sun was shining and the lake was azure blue. The church was stunning against such a spectacular backdrop, and the view from inside the church was too good to ignore the sign saying not to take pictures 

Mangee had told us to really take advantage of the romantic location, and maybe also go on a walk to the top of the mountains to catch sight of he spectacular scenery and also to take a look at the observatory located at the top.

We arrived at a small hostel where we were divided into rooms. The cottage was really cute and cosy, and the large living area had a window perfectly framing the gorgeous view.

As we were only spending one night at Tekapo, we decided to head out and do the walk straight away. It was perfect conditions, slightly autumnal so the leaves were red and the air was fresh. It really was living up to its romantic reputation, which made Mark miss Iqra so he decided to stay in the room and have some personal reflection time rather than do the walk. Plus he was still feeling pretty grotty.

We ascended the tall mountain, along with another English guy we met on the bus. The walk was fairly tough, as it was steep and narrow and very windy. We had a few stops along the way to take in the unusually flat ground surrounding Tekapo, and of course we had Archie up to his old tricks.

the peak of the mountain!

As we reached the top, we were astounded at just how huge the lake was! It stretched for miles and miles and the colour was out of this world! We were really glad we had done the walk despite the freezing wind whipping us! We decided to have a hot drink at the observatory cafe and wait till the sunset.

Steph took the opportunity to pay back the little French guy on the bus, as he had given her a coffee when she was feeling rough after Mindys house party in Queensland. 

She had bumped into him at the right time and he had simply offered her a coffee from cookie time with a piece of cookie on top! She was so delighted and couldn't believe her luck and he explained that he believed that if he was generous to others then he would receive nice gestures from people later on. Although Steph buying him a coffee was a very literal way of paying him back, he was honestly very grateful.

We chatted with him until we saw the sun start to sink from the sky behind the mountains. We ran outside to watch the amazing colours change the scenery around us.

We suddenly realised that navigating back down the steep hill in complete darkness wouldn't be ideal so we quickly made our way down watching the beautiful pink sky change colour.

We got back to lodge and cooked some food. We sat by the fire and started to watch movies whilst we waited till we were ready to brave the cold to star gaze.  

After watching 'Captain America' and deciding our beers were sufficiently chilled, we got dressed up into our warmest clothes and went outside and sat on the rocky lake side.

The stars were not the best we'd ever seen as the ones we'd seen on Toms birthday in Peru on top of the mountain had been amazing. However they were still impressive and luckily for us this time someone had a camera good enough to capture them! Andy took snaps of us all on the lake side and when we got too cold, we ran around with our phone lights taking pictures on his camera too.

It was a really nice evening, and in retrospect one of our favourite locations, just due to its pure beauty!

The next day we would be going to the polar opposite of such scenery, as we would be journeying to what was left of Christchurch after the tragic earthquake years previously.