in the merry old land of aus: back in christchurch & ashburton

So, we have made a nice clockwise pattern around the south island of New Zealand and are back where we started. Karen picks us up from the bus stop in Christchurch and we are on our way to Ashburton. After a day of rest, we decide that we should make a trip to inland NZ; we chose Mount Cook. It is about a two hour drive from Ashburton to the tallest peak in New Zealand, so we plan to go early in the monring. It ends up being a cloudy day with no peak of Mount Cook showing, but there was this cool 3D movie that we saw which made us feel like we were on the mountain! After watching this a walking to the glacier that is nearby, we had our afternoon picnic and drove to Karen’s brother’s house for the night. They live on a high country station that is 46,000 acres of land, 20,000 sheep, 600 cattle and 550 calves. Karen’s brother is the head shepherd and so he took us on the back of his truck with two of the working dogs to mustre some sheep. This was remarkable. The dogs are so smart and well trained and the scenery was unbelievable! We got to see Mount Cook from 100km or so away from above the clouds! It is easily two times bigger than the other mountains around it. I remember thinking while we were driving up the mountainside to the peak that wow, today I can say that I climbed a mountain and my arms were tired! Holding on was the only thing I could do to stop from bouncing around wildly in the bed of this truck, but I wouldn’t change it for anything. It was an awesome experience and I can say that I would love to have that job!

As some of our last tea’s in New Zealand, we have to have all of the classics for our last few meals. We have a lamb roast one night and chicken kebabs another, with vegetables including lots of potatoes and pumpkin. Desserts are pineapple lumps, chocolate fish, passionfruit and hokey pokey ice cream, pavlova with hand whipped cream and fruit, and lamingtons.

The next day we pack and plan to get up early for the Antarctic Centre. Here, we get to go on a ride in the Hagglund all terrain vehicles - check it out on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRN4yIDACP0 We also got to see the four seasons room, experience an antarctic storm for seven minutes, and watch the blue penguins feed. This place was very cool and conveniently located right next to the airport.. where we are headed for our flight to Adelaide!