NEWS # 042
Hi everyone!
The YHA is clean and warm but a little too big for my liking but I figure
that it will be ok for the next few days. We unload all the kit and head out
in search of food. I haven't eaten since twelve and am starving. The Chinese
we find is excellent, and we eat to bursting point. It's not long before we
crash out.
Up early on Monday, the weather is, once again, excellent and there are few
clouds in the sky. After breakfast, I decide to explore the city and do some
cultural stuff. I visit the Cathedral and climb the 100 very steep steps to
the bell tower, from where I get great views of the city and the snow
covered Southern Alps, in the distance.
I also head around in search of thermal underwear as it's freezing to me
after being close to the Equator for so long! I have no luck though and
decide that I will probably freeze for the next few weeks instead!
At least I won't then have loads of extra gear to carry.
I eat lunch at the Penang Noodle House, who supply a huge plateful of
noodles, sweet and sour pork and chicken with vegetables for the tidy sum of
five dollars, or less than two pounds. The rest of the day is spent on the
net, doing trip reports and getting up to date with my mail. It takes me
quite a few hours but I feel that my typing skills are improving! I go back
to the hostel, eat and crash out early.
Tuesday. The weather once again excels though I feel that we are in for a
change, if only because it is never this nice for long at home in the
winter! I get the laundry done and head off into the city again. I'll be
leaving here tomorrow and use the day as a chance to stock up on supplies
and get prepared. I get some photos developed though the quality leaves much
to be desired. I also contact the Post Office to see if they can redirect my
mail from Auckland, down to Queenstown, as I won't be back in the North
Island for a few weeks yet.
I then head off to the science museum, which is fun but must be the smallest
science museum that I've ever visited. Afterwards, I load up with food and
head back to the hostel, via the net cafe.
I get my mail up-to-date and then head off to see Daniel and Ceisha, some
friends from Fiji, who live in Christchurch. We spend a few hours catching
up and Daniel and I agree to go surfing when I head back to Christchurch,
later on my trip. I then head home and pack ready for an early start the
next day.
The next morning, I'm up early ready for a long drive down the coast. I'm
not exactly sure which way I'll go and it really depends on the surf. I pack
the car up and head off in search of snow chains, for the next part of the
journey. Unfortunately, I cannot find any in Christchurch and hope that they
will be more readily available down the coast.
I drive south for several hours before I hit the coast. At least I am able
to get some chains in Timaru. I then head out of the town along the coast,
hoping for surf. Apparently, this area has some of the heaviest surf in NZ.
I get to the first point break and it is about three inches in the sets!
This decides my plan of action for me and I aim away from the coast to the
highest point in NZ, Mount Cook. I decide that I may as well head towards
Queenstown and Wanaka and that Mount Cook is an ideal stopping point.
Another few hours in the car has me heading past Lake Timaru, whose
Aquamarine glacial waters have to be seen to be believed. I stop, in the
torrential rain, to call ahead to the YHA in Mount Cook. I am not surprised
that they have some beds free!
As I turn off the main road and head towards
Mount Cook, the snow piled on the sides of the road increases noticably. I
later find out that ten days ago, they had a metre of snow in twenty four
hours!! The weather forecast predicts 100 mm of rain in the next twenty four.
I travel up the side of the lake towards the Tasman Glacier and arrive at
the hostel in the twilight. It is warm and cosy and I feel quite at home. I
unload the car and go in search of food which tonight is a monster pizza for
ten dollars, about three quid.
I then join some of the other guys from the hostel and we head off to the
pub to see Brazil beat Turkey. By the time we leave the pub, the weather has
improved and we walk home in the moonlight with the snow-covered mountains
silhouetted against the dark sky.
The next day, Thursday, I'm up before eight and leave just after nine. I've
a fair journey and want to get over the mountains before dark.
Seeya,
Halesy
