Into the Mountains, down by the Lakes and a big leap of faith!! (C – 1/2) January 31, 2008

South Island, NZ

Originally uploaded by chris.warn

After Bon Jovi we were the last up the next day, all the other denim and leather clad rockers had left early, very sensible and gave an indication of the predominant age group of the fans!! We wandered around beautiful central Christchurch and bought a big shop we were cooking for guests tonight, Rich (Thompson) and Jamie. Great night, barbie and plenty of booze. Girls talked about how unfair it was to be denied all material possessions and regular shopping trips when camping and discussed Heath Ledger, boys talked solely about cricket and tents and ate a lot of chocolate! Also a lot of beer and then wine, first white and then a 3 day old pre-opened red, classic Warn! Got told off for making too much noise and were v rock and roll! Next day a sluggish start, we had to depart by 1000 and left at 0959, very pleased with that. Drove South through Ashburton (made us think of Plymouth) and stopped off at a town called Geraldine (nice name for a town) for a lovely fish and chips and other post booze treats. Weather mixed, first bright then stormy and eventually blistering as we drove towards Lake Tekapo, where we first saw the gorgeous colour of the local water, a vivid milky blue almost turquoise, created by blue skies and the glacial silt that the water carries – it was a real eye opener. Continued down towards Lake Pukaki where we saw the real money shot, facing North with Mt Cook at the head of the Lake and a wide expanse of this blue framed by green forest. Sat for a long time just sucking it all in and dipping our feet in the icy, crystal clear water. My God, this is why we came travelling. Camped that night in Twizel, yet another cool named place (Ruataniwha Camp) by a smaller lake, no less clear and attractive. Hired kayaks and went for a paddle, pushing out some phys on way out and then drifting back in the hot sun to the jetty with the prevailing wind, blowing a pine scented breeze that was just strong enough to take us home, but not too strong to be chilly!! Up early next day to conquer Mt Cook, well drive up the side of Lake Pukaki with country and western blaring out of the MP3, just perfectly suited music, Coward of the County was the favourite. Reached the settlement Mt Cook or Aoraki to give it its’ original name. Mt Cook didn’t look that well, in fact you could say it looked a bit peaky (come on!). Then we walked up a track to Kea Point which was far enough in the blistering heat. Mt Cook looked pretty close though and regal against a clear sky, crowned with snow and ice. Talked to an old German who had climbed it back in ‘66 (why wasn’t he watching the footy?) he said there was a LOT more snow around then! He was very modest especially considering the fact he probably did it in nothing but a thick pair of socks, a pair of +4s and a tweed jacket! Good walk for us though and had a smashing home made cheese and tomato sandwich when we got back to the Sir Edmund Hilary museum, the old boy would have been proud of us for sure, may he rest in peace on that big summit in the sky. Turned back and drove the way we had come, to return via Twizel and then Omarama and on to Wanaka. Bit flat on the way and boring after the great views of last 48 hours,but Wanaka very attractive, if touristy and on the banks of Lake Wanaka so good place to stay. Up very slowly for some reason the next day and seemed to be employing delaying tactics before hitting the road to our next destination – THE BUNGY JUMP dun, dun daaaaah! We travelled over the very scenic Crown Range to get to the Queenstown area, great descent from the hill top on a series of hairpin bends with no protective fences – great for the driver (me!). Turned towards Cromwell and the jump, feeling nervous all of a sudden as we saw the first sign post for it – Kawauru Gorge! As we drove over the new road bridge here, we looked across at the old bridge which is now the launch site, just in time to see someone leap off. The red metal of the bridge was stark against the unyielding grey rock of the gorge sides and the blue water crashing through the narrows foaming into peaks below. It did look a very pretty place for death to be diced with. Onto the viewing platform and at this point Soph decided she’d rather spend money on clothes. I was not happy but needed to pay the money and get this booked before I too backed out! The whole thing was really quick, about 2 minutes from the weigh in I was kitted out on the platform, listening to the staff joking about life insurance! ha, ha, ha! And that was it 5-4-3-2-1 and I was off. Fortunately the sheer shock was enough to keep me quiet – so no girlie squeals of terror, I didn’t utter a sound until the 3rd bounce, when relief gave way to laughter and some swearing! Brilliant, first and last time for me, but brilliant! Got dunked as well, right up to the waist so felt well hard waltzing around afterwards, in the shop waiting for my certificate and t-shirt. After this we went to Queenstown, which was nice enough and had a lovely gardens to walk around and come down off the adrenalin high, but the mere presence of near naked young and healthy thrill seeking travellers forced us away!! Back to Wanaka for a relaxing evening, Soph went for a quick shop (bought some polka-dot PJ bottoms, as it’s so cold at nights here) and I had a Tim-Tam (good advice Phil) and an ice-cream sorry I mean an extreme ice-cream, now I am officially a dangerous sportman!
Bed early after Gordon Ramsay swearing a lot on telly. What a few days. Bed-times are extremely comfortable now we’ve learned how to inflate the mattress properly, but it’s like being on a bouncy castle at times. Sophs fidgets as we fall asleep and I fidget in mornings, so one or the other of us has got their nose to the ceiling most of the time!
Heading North now, this is the closest we’ll get to the Antarctic Circle and it’s still boiling!! Got some great treats to look forward to over course of next week, but I’ll sign off now and leave the telling of these tales to Sophs.