Mount Cook and Christchurch

I finally got out of Queenstown the other day and spent 2 wonderous days in Mount Cook. I know some people may slap me for this, but I didn't love Queenstown. It was crazy expensive and seemed like everything was a money grab. It's also party central which isn't really my thing and unfortunately I encountered more than a few very unfriendly kiwis. Oh well. I'm outta there now.

Mt. Cook was outstanding and we had the most prefect weather for the entire time I was there (if you have bad weather it is a really bad time because there is literally nothing to do there if you aren't walking/hiking on the Mountain-no grocery store, no shops, no houses-nothing. Just a few hostels).

The day I left to go to Mt. Cook started out really good. While waiting outside my hostel to get picked up by the Stray bus, my awesome driver that my friends and I had for most of the trip, Curry, pulled up to get me. It was a glorious reunion for us! After we arrived, me and my friend Doris decided to Hitchhike to a place called Lake Tasman to see some glaciers and blue pools. Its a 9 km walk before you even get to the walk, so thankfully a nice guy from South Carolina picked us up and an Austrailian couple from Melbourne drove us all the way back to our hostel. The walk was really nice and one of the better days I've had in NZ. When we got to the blue pools, we were the only people there! So, I stripped down and went swimming in my underwear. It was awesome! The views of Mt. Cook and Lake Tasman (which has little chunks of glacier floating in it that recently broke off of Mt. Cook) were breath-taking!

I was planning on getting up really early the next morning to go and book a hut on the mountain to sleep in for the next night and do a killer hike, but things did not go according to plan. I didn't end up sleeping because this awful old German woman who was sleeping in the bunk below mine was sickly and snoring honestly like a dying wildabeast all night long. (This is not me just being over-sensitive. All the other girls in the room didn't sleep either!) So, my plan for the big hike was dumped. I did however walk the Kea Trail with my friends Davin and Cally and it gave us fantastic views of the Mountain.

I also discovered that the peak of Mt. Cook sort of looks like Jaba the Hut. See for yourself below:

That afternoon, a bunch of our other friends rolled into town from the South and the bar at our hostel had a trivia night which clearly I was all over. At halftime, my team (of 3 people I might add) were tied for 4th, but the second half was all NZ based questions which clearly we had no idea about. I did well on the other stuff though, including a bonus question which asked to name King Henry VIII's 6 wives in order (thank god I've watched the Tudors!)

This morning we left for Christchurch, the biggest city on the South Island, and the second biggest city in NZ (after Auckland). On the way we stopped at Lake Tekapo which has a beautiful little church. I knew my brother Ales would kill me if I didn't go and see it, so despite time constraints and walking distance, I high-tailed it over there during our stop instead of using the toilet or eating lunch. It was really beautiful.

They now call Christchurch the shaking city on account of the number of earthquakes there have been here as of late. In September, there was a 7.1 quake here (same size as the one in Haiti) and since then, there have been between 4500 and 5000 more which is pretty mental. The city's buildings have taken quite a beating-everywhere you look there is scaffolding and things closed down etc.
Christchurch is also NZ's most "British-like" city and it does feel British. It's nice. I took a walk through the botanical gardens today to smell the roses and say hi to the ducks. It actually reminded me of the gardens in London.

Donay has asked me if there are any "hicks" or "white trash" in NZ and the answer is a definative yes. I probably should have taken a video at the old Pack and Save tonight while I was buying groceries. It was ridiculous, and clearly I was pretty close to a rage attack.

Tonight I'm going out to say farewell to a few friends that I've been travelling with. Everyone is starting to go off on their seperate ways which is a bit sad. Hell, I'm leaving NZ in 11 days which is crazy!

Tomorrow I'm off to Kaikora to go dolphin swimming and chill for a few days hopefully on the beach with nice weather. Until next time...