Incommunicado

Not a quote from Phil Collins, but more a statement of the difficulty of getting a connection. We both love NZ, but the internet here......

One of the inevitable realities of travelling is that news is often hard to come by, especially when budgets dictate sleeping in non hotel accomodation. We arrived in New Zealand shortly after the Pikes River mine disaster, and despite being relatively close to the area involved, we didnt realise the scale of the tradegy, and the desperate search for the sadly deceased miners was something we only got occasional updates on via sporadic local radio reports.

The south island has also recently suffered a big earthquake. As a country with only a recent history, its especially sad that the majority of buildings affected are the oldest and most interesting, although the locals seem to be upbeat, and very positive and friendly, which seems to be a welcome national trait.

Christchurch Arts College with earthquake damage

After spending a day touring Christchurch, we picked up the campervan, a much nicer VW model than we expected, which is tall enough for me to stand up in (just). As this is home for the next month, the fridge and water with sink are very welcome.

Travelling the short distance to Akoroa, we camped for the first night nearby this beautiful village, which was first settled by French immagrants, and has place names to match, and a few patisseries available too. As with much of NZ, this area is an old volcano, with tall mountains and deep lakes in old calderas in evidence.

Akoroa at sunset

From Akoroa, we travelled south in the foothills of the southern alps. The scenery here is breathtaking, and seems to simulate areas of wales, then the pyrennees and then full on alpine mountains all in close proximity. Many of the lakes are a rich turqoise colour, with the water an icy temperature due to the mountains snow capped peaks melting in the NZ spring.

Rush Hour South Island Style

Stopping off en route south - just a taste of the scenery to come

We stopped at Lake Tekapo, and did a 2.5 hour walk to the Mount John observatory, which had a handy cafe at the top which served excellent coffee and cakes. The cafe is staffed by PHD students and researchers from various NZ universities, who study the skies at night (apparently in the cleanest air anywhere in the southern hemisphere - so the guidebook says) and then serve food and drinks to tourists during the day. Not sure how much time to themselves they get, but its all done with typical kiwi hospitality.

Lake Tekapo and the southern alps

Mt John Observatory