Driving down the East Coast of the South Island

I've recently driven from Picton to Christchurch and the scenery is absolutely beautiful for much of the drive.  I did the drive all in the same day which is not ideal for sight seeing.  

Next time I'll take a couple of days so I can soak up what the countryside has to offer. I'd really like to explore the Picton, Blenheim and Nelson areas next time I have the opportunity.  

My favourite part of the drive was the area just north of Kaikoura and this is another place I'd like to spend a day or two, maybe more as it seems to have a lot to offer.

What I loved was rounding a bend and seeing the ocean on my left, then green pastures with animals grazing, rolling hills and snow capped mountains on my right.  All in the one view!  Absolutely spectacular.  I'm so drawn to all of those things and to see them all at once was just beautiful.

There is a seal colony that stretches along a section of the coastline either side of Ohau Point.  I went to pull into a roadside stop to take some photo's, however, there were seals laying everywhere on the road and grassy area so I decided it would be better to leave them to their lolling about and take pics further down the road.

They are quite happy to put on bit of a show for you, splashing and playing, chasing each other or just diving in and out of the water.  

There is also a walk you can do at Ohau Point on the opposite side of the road to the ocean that will take you into some of the waterway area where the seals play.  The day I walked in I think they were all playing in the ocean!  However, someone earlier in the day had shown me some video footage on their phone of the seals in the rock pools there so perhaps I was walking in at the wrong time of day for them.

It's truly something special to be able to pull your car over and enjoy watching these sea animals playing in their natural habitat.

Kaikoura is an area known for it's unique marine wildlife that you can see all year round.  Doing a cruise to see the whales, dolphins, seals and seabirds has been on my to do list for a little while now, so hopefully I'll be able to do that on my next trip!

Where to start? Lake Tekapo

I was undecided whether to follow the paths of my travels on each trip or to choose a place until I've covered all I've visited or to do a mix of both.  I've decided on a mix of both because I think it will happen that way with the story telling.  

Some time before my first trip over, I'd seen a photo of this picturesque little stone church on the edge of a stunning turquoise blue lake with lupins flowering all around, snow capped mountains in the background, beautiful pine trees on the other side of the lake and I remember thinking, I bet it's in some national park that you have to hike 3 days to get to!

As it turns out, the little non denominational Church of the Good Shepherd is very easy to get to.  The scenery in real life is just as beautiful as the pictures.

The turquoise blue lake is crystal clear and the stunning blue is a result of it being a glacier fed lake, the colour being created by the glacier flour which is extremely finely ground rock particles from the glacier.

In the spring time, the lupins come out in flour and put on a glorious display of colour in around the church and the rocky outcrop towards the lake.

Some days, people would have taken the time to make little towers out of the rocks, also known as cairns and you seem them down near the lake front.

Inside the little church itself is just 11 pews, with a reed organ and the most spectacular view of the lake and snow capped mountains from the window above the altar. 

It truly is a beautiful place and there are many tourists who stop by to enjoy the peace and tranquility of this scenic place.

The township of Lake Tekapo has a population of around 370 residents and is a great place to base for a couple of days if you're wanting to explore the area further or do some skiing.

Mt Cook is nearby for the skiers and explorers and the world famous Mt John Observatory is well worth a visit.  The views during the daytime are spectacular and the night time star gazing observatory tours are a must do!

I attended the Mt John Twilight Tour where due to it being a little cloudy that night, I had the opportunity to see New Zealand's largest research telescope and meet the astronomers working behind the scenes. 

The telescope is worth a cool $7 million and the mirror alone (which you cant see from the angle in the pic below) is worth $2 mil. The telescope costs around $12 000 a day to run and the night I was there in 2014, there were 4 astronomers reading the data provided to them by this telescope. An amazing place!

When the clouds cleared, we (myself and two other stargazers) had the opportunity to look through some other smaller telescopes as the stars and the sky were explained in a little more detail.

It was incredibly cold as there were strong winds coming from the snow on Mt Cook, however, they provide you with pre-loved jackets from previous Antarctic expeditions.

There is something about this whole area that appeals to me so it's a place I've found myself returning to a few times and will no doubt return again.

New Zealand I hear you say? What's with New Zealand?

I have wanted to visit the land of the long white cloud for as long as I can remember and it took me until the spring of 2012 to finally achieve that dream.  
I've since had another 5 trips back and am now hoping to move there next year. I love the place!  

I've always been drawn to the South Island and I have to say, it doesn't disappoint.  I've visited the South Island on all of my visits to date and that's where I'm hoping to live.

I've managed to see quite a lot of the South Island in my travels and have a few favourite places.  My plan with this blog is to share my travels and the things that have stood out for me.

I've flown in and out of Christchurch on quite a few of my trips, yet not spent a great deal of time in Christchurch.  On my first trip over, it was about 20 months after the earthquake and the friends I stayed with there showed me about the city. 

So much damage, so much rebuilding started but so much not yet started and not even looking like getting started.  Many potholes and/or sinkholes in the road.  

There were things I loved though - the pop up mall in the city made from brightly painted shipping containers that now housed some of the shops.  

A large double glass door refrigerator on a vacant city block that held books for people to share.  A half sized soccer pitch set up on a cleared block in the city.  

These things warmed my heart, seeing a city pulling together, trying to encourage people back into the city. So much sadness, trauma and destruction and yet these little encouragements all around.

On my last trip, I spent a week in the North Island and admit doing a town a day is way too fast.  It meant I saw some lovely countryside, but I also spent a LOT of time driving most days.

There are places I now want to go back to in the North Island so I can explore some more.  There are also a few places I didn't visit that I'd like to see, so plans for that are brewing!

In the meantime, I'll share some of what I've enjoyed about the places I've visited.