Day 60

We woke up early this morning to head to Christchurch. Today would be a travel day. It was a nice morning and we were excited to head up the east coast of the South Island. Along the first part of the drive we watched the Lord of the Rings: Two Towers movie. It was a neat atmosphere to watch the movie in, you could almost look around and feel like you were in the movie. Ok, so it took a little imagination as well, but it was fitting.

We made a few stops along the journey, one in Twizel (near Mt. Cook) for some coffee and a break from the bus. John saw a tractor on the playground and couldn't help himself. (Note the cute little girl on the seasaw just to his left)






















Our next stop proved to be an incredible view.















This is Lake Pukaki, and it was stunning. The water is an amazing teal color, and the mountains in the background provided for a nice view. We got out and took a few pictures before heading north again.















The highest peak in the center of the photo above is Mt. Cook, which stands over 12,000 feet high. It is the highest peak in New Zealand. We have pictures of it in previous blogs when we were over near Fox Glacier, and now we are on the eastern side of the mountains, so we have seen it from both the east and the west.

A little further north we stopped in a town called Lake Tekapo. Below is a picture of a stone church that sits out on a point of land jutting out into the lake. It was a beautiful day to enjoy the view.

Lake Tekapo is known as one of the best places to see the stars. They have strict light ordinances in the town to minimize light pollution and increase the visibility of the night sky. Unfortunately, this time around we only stopped for a lunch break, so we may have to come back to see the stars.

We continued our journey north towards Christchurch and watched another movie, Honey, John loved this one. It is about a female dancer making a name for herself, you should check it out! Shortly after the movie was over we arrived in Christchurch.

After dropping most of the people off, we headed to our hostel called Foley Towers. It was a neat place with beautiful gardens and a bit of calm within the city. We got settled in and headed to an organic food store across the street to get some things for dinner. We went back to the backpackers to make some dinner and check our email before heading to bed.