Day 9 - Lake Tekapo

Today was meant to be a rest day with just a wee hike planned.  And here I am - feet up, sunburnt face and weary legs.  Our wee hike turned into a whopping 17kms and 24,000 steps and this is on the back of some pretty active days hence an essential nanna nap this afternoon. 😳

Before the hike even began Steve and I nipped down to the lake shore to take some quick pictures before the tourist onslaught (and I know we're tourists too, but because we're not driving a motor home or jumping off a tour bus we can pretend we're not 😉)

And last night we had our first sprinkle of rain.  It was in the early evening so didn't affect any plans and score - got a cool rainbow shot. It was actually a double one but the second was faint and didn't show up on the photo.

We started our hike around 12 noon and the photo below was about 300m from the official start by which time we'd already walked about 1.5km from the supermarket carpark.  Squids were not happy when they realise we could actually have parked at the start.  

And from this point it was up, up and more up - 2.4km worth and 460m of elevation. Oh yep - we weren't expecting it to be that high, steep and long and all might have been a bit sweaty and crotchety by the time we got to the top. Not that you can tell from our smiling faces below 😑 

Bottom right gives an idea of how high we climbed

And then on a bit further to a bunch of observatories and a cafe.  

Had a bit of a sit down before the kids announced they did NOT want to continue on the long way so it was adios amigo and we parted ways.

Top right sign showing the short and long way back

I think we made the right choice because we got to see this...

this...

and this...

😁

Day 8 - Christchurch to Lake Tekapo

Christchurch botanic gardens are stunning, from the cafe to the gift shop, the canal and the beautiful trees to the roses and dahlias and don't get me started on the begonias.  Even Daniel was inspired enough to insist a go with my camera and, like a true artiste, has demanded I credit his photos.

Fist few views of the gardens (not Daniel 😆)

The Cafe (bottom left below) is where they go after Parkrun!!  Fantabuloso!

Bottom right may have been taken by Daniel 😍

Stunning display in the gift shop!

Sensational display in the gift shop (not Daniel 😜)

Photo taken by Danny P (under strict guidance 😏)

Single dahlias

Double dahlias (think I'm edging towards the single)

Onion bulb flowers (I think)

Left NZB by DP 👍

And here it comes - the begonia house....had grabbed my camera back at this stage - was getting far too twitchy without it.  

Close-ups of these beautiful flowers..

All beautiful but the bottom left was a standout!

Colour and beauty overload!

Until the next room....

Yep - I guess Cacti have their own special kind of beauty 😐

Back outside...

And one last view...

And on that high - we left Christchurch heading for Lake Tekapo past scenery like this

Photo taken by Jem out the car window (under driver instruction 😎)

with a 9km walk snuck in the middle at this place.....Rakaia Gorge

The kids turned back after 1.4km but Steve and I did around 9km - the views were amaze-balls.

Stunning...

And then onwards and upwards - through Fairlie for some excellent pies.  Steve had 2 - pork belly, and salmon and bacon, and gave then both the thumbs up.  It was only a short trip through more lovely scenery

Until we arrived at Lake Tekapo with this view taken just outside the office where we picked up the keys to our accommodation

Day 7 - Christchurch and Akaroa

International Parkrun - Tick.  Yep - that's right - Steve and I did the Christchurch Parkrun in Hagley Park this morning. 

We also happened to walk in and back so clocked up a neat 10,000 steps by 9am.  BTW - we're keeping an eye on daily steps and have been over 10,000 every day so far.  Right now I'm on 18,730 and the day's not over.

After Parkrun we took a trip south to Akaroa via Lyttleton.  First stop - markets!  Didn't know they were on but decided to have a squiz - and for a tiny market it packed a punch!

Check the focus on the pup at the doggy treat stand!

Lyttleton was one of the first landing places by Capt. Cook on Endeavour in 1776, became a port in 1849 and is now a major trading site for timber, petrol and lpg.

And then it was off to Akaroa

Just 75 kilometres from the city of Christchurch, Akaroa is a historic French and British settlement nestled in the heart of an ancient volcano.  It was an overcast day so the normally turquoise water was more of a muted grey, but it was still lovely and the fish and chips were damn fine!

Daniel wanted a picture of the puppy!

And then after a bit of a rest we had a lovely dinner with family friends - Maxine and Chris, followed by a game of Five Crowns - Emily smashed it and of course thinks it's an excellent game.  I didn't play - instead had a huge catch up with Maxine and Chris' daughter Sarah who lives in Paris.  

Five Crowns

Thanks Maxine and Chris - it was great seeing you!

Day 6 - Christchurch

It was a morning of sleepy heads and admin - me awake early but plugging away at yesterday's blog post, kids punching out zzzzz's until 10:00am, all of us getting our washing done.  Steve was the most active and nicked across the road to a park area to practice throwing his new frisbee.

We're in an Airbnb - extremely spacious with a luxurious king-sized bed, gorgeous stained glass, excellent floorboards in the bathroom, a dome shower that contains the steam and a cute pup who looks like Alf. 

At the nice early time of 11:00am we headed into town - about a 5 minute walk.  Em and I checked out the Quake Centre and the boys watched a funny clown show - part of a month long busker festival on here at the moment.  The Quake Centre was good - obviously a different experience to a clown show - and included footage and info about the quake, but it was the personal stories that really highlighted the devastation and chaos of 22 Feb 2011.   Christchurch still bears the scars with a mix of disused buildings, gaping holes, new builds and ongoing restorations. 

It was a quick visit to town, because we'd booked ourselves in for just a touch more excitement at the Adrenaline Forest. Historically I would have said I was scared of heights, but after yesterday's efforts Hallelujah - I'm cured!  We spent 3 hours at this place, starting with a brief on how to harness and clip in and out, followed by a quick zip line practice then off we went.  

Started with a tiddler - a mere 2 to 3 metres off the ground then straight to level 4 and onto the real deal - levels 5, 5b and 6 - a whopping 25m up with zip lines zigging this way and that.  

Can't believe chickeny pants me did it!  I'd be interested how you go from being scared of heights to scrambling around the top of 25m tall trees.  My theory - start small, don't look down and focus and I mean really FOCUS on clipping in and out.  

I had one blooper - sat down in my harness on the the zipline WITHOUT putting the pulley on first - outcome - stationery dangling.  Did it right in front of the instructor too and it took a ridiculous amount of energy trying to get back on the platform.  How embarrassment! 😐

I de-harnessed about 30 mins before everyone else to take photos, hence no piccies of me 😡.  But - on the plus side the last one Steve and the kids did was a challenge doozy and they were knackered.  At least I ended on a metaphorical high 😁 instead of going for too long, getting weak and crotchety and basically ending on a literal low 😡.

And boy oh boy were we all ready for dinner.  Steve chose a winner of a place - super upmarket food court kind of joint - in an area that looked like it was going to be a busker-less version of Mitchell (and I may have said words to this effect) but it turned out to be a hidden gem...See....

Where we had the best pizza Jem has ever had!

After dinner we wandered into town and found this Japanese busker...

And Riverside Markets

Long day, totally knackered, early-ish to bed to dream about more zip lining 😁