South Island, NZ

Thursday, January 14. Today was the day of Arthur's Pass. We awoke once again to cold and cloudy weather. The woman at the front desk had told us the day before that the weather for the Arthur's Pass area looked dismal and raining. Keith and I were a bit perplexed as to what to do, not wanting to drive to Arthur's Pass in the rain, but not really sure what else we would do. After some breakfast and checking out of our motel, we hit the road. We decided to head to Arthur's Pass regardless, with the thought that even if the weather was horrible, we would still have Friday to try and enjoy the area. It was about a two hour drive to Arthur's Pass, but of course it ended up taking us much longer. Arthur's Pass is a number of things – it's one of New Zealand's National Parks, it's also a village (the highest town in NZ with a population of 54) and it's also a road that runs from Christchurch on the east side of the South Island to Greymouth on the west side. As we turned on Arthur's Pass, the weather gods seemed to smile upon Keith and I and the sun came out. Though there were ominous clouds all around us, there was blue sky and sun above us. Arthur's Pass, similar to Haast Pass, is quite scenic as you cross the Southern Alps. There are snow-capped mountains, fields of cows and sheep and blue blue glacier rivers and streams. On the way to the village of Arthur's Pass we stopped at Castle Hill Conservation Area. There, we hiked around for about 45 minutes through HUGE limestone formations. We continued on making a few stops here and there taking a few happy snaps. We made it to the village of Arthur's Pass early in the afternoon. We were able to check into our hostel – a cute little house with three bedrooms, a nice big kitchen and a wood burning fireplace – and we made some lunch. We decided to drive a little more of Arthur's Pass and drove another 30 km or so towards the west coast. Finally by about 2:30 or 3:00 pm the weather looked like it was finally catching up to us. We headed back to the village of Arthur's Pass in hopes of getting a short hike in before the rain started. Though the clouds had rolled it, we managed to hike for about an hour to Devils Punchbowl Falls – a 131 meter waterfall. After hiking, we hit the general store/cafe, had some hot chocolate and read the paper. We headed back to the hostel where someone had started a fire (the rain had started by now). We enjoyed a nice leisurely evening with no television (which was really nice for a change – though Keith may disagree). We met a nice woman and her two teenage children and chatted with them for quite awhile before calling it a night.

Friday, January 15. Today was a busy day. Keith and I both awoke very early and were on the road by 7:15 am or so. It was a pretty ride back out of Arthur's Pass and the weather looked so-so. We arrived in Christchurch at our motel around 9:30 am and amazingly we were able to check-in. We looked at the weather and it looked like today was going to the best day out of the next three days – so we headed off to the Akaroa and the Banks Peninsula. The Banks Peninsula has rolling hills and beautiful blue water and was formed by two giant volcanic eruptions. It reminded us a bit of the Otago Peninsula. Akaroa is about an 1 ½ hour drive from Christchurch though Keith and I took the scenic route, which had spectacular views, and which took us through the hills and high above the harbours. The drive ended up taking us two hours or so. Akaroa has a year-round population of only 500-600 people. It is the site of NZ's first (and only) French settlement. The town still has a strong french influence which is reflected in the names of the streets and businesses as well as the architecture. Keith and I wandered around the charming little town for a bit and the weather was beautiful. A popular activity to do in Akaroa is to take a boat cruise to see the Hector dolphins – the smallest and rarest of all the dolphins. Since it was such a nice day, we decided to go for a 2 ½ hour sail on a 47 foot sailboat. There were only five other people on our sail and our captain. Our captain was a nice chap and told us the whole history of the area. It did get a little chilly on our sail, though as soon as we turned out of the wind, the sun came out and it was quite nice. Towards the end of our sails we finally saw some Hector dolphins which came swimming right along-side the boat. They are quite small and aren't as demonstrative as some of the other kinds of dolphins, but it was exciting nevertheless. We arrived back in the harbour around 4:00 pm. Keith and I grabbed an ice cream and headed out. The weather was absolutely beautiful, so on our way back to Christchurch we stopped at the gondola. It was about a 10 minute ride up to the top where there were great views of the Banks Peninsula, Lyttleton Harbour, Christchurch and the surrounding area. We finally arrived back to our motel around 7:00 pm or so. We were both exhausted from getting up so early, so we grabbed a pizza for dinner and called it a night.

Saturday, January 16. Today was the day of Antarctica. We awoke to cold and dreary weather once again, a perfect day for what we were going to do. After some breakfast, we quickly checked out a weekend market at the Arts Centre and decided we would head back there after visiting the International Antarctic Centre. We headed off to the International Antarctic Centre. Apparently 70% of all travels to Antarctica originate in Christchurch. The Centre itself is part of a huge complex built for the administration of the NZ, U.S. and Italian Antarctic programs. Keith and I spent a few hours at the Centre, learning all about Antarctica, finally seeing small blue penguins, visiting the Antarctica Storm Center - a room with snow and ice that simulate storms with wind chill temperatures reaching -18 degrees Celsius (so basically the same as home), and taking a Hagglund Ride (an all-terrain vehicle that is often used in Antarctica) up and down hills and across a pond. Antarctica seems like an amazing place, like a completely different world and perhaps a place I'd like to visit sometime in the future. After finishing at the Antarctica Center we headed back to the motel for a late lunch. We then headed back out to the Arts Centre. The Arts Centre itself is a beautiful old stone building that looks like it was once part of a school or university. They've turned it into a commercial area with craft stores, boutiques, art galleries and restaurants. Every Saturday and Sunday they have an outdoor market with lots of booths selling all kinds of crafts, street food and live music. Keith and I wandered around for a bit and then it started to drizzle. We took refuge at a restaurant/bar and enjoyed a pitcher of beer and some fries. We then stopped at the grocery store to grab some provisions for dinner. We went back to the motel, made some dinner, had some wine and watched a little tv. It was cold and raining out and we had an evening visitor meowing outside of our door. We let her in and I gave her some warm milk. She clearly did not want to go back out and spent the next several hours curled up on the bed between Keith and I.