Aoraki (Mount Cook) to Christchurch

This morning brough us the call of the Kea, six or so plucky, green hook-nosed parrots were flying around the hotel calling out to each other and sounding like Lenny Henry trying out his birdcall. We'd been warned to avoid them at the Doubtful Sound because they tend to destroy things. As I watched them two tried to destroy a metal airvent while another two were tearing at the roof slots - fortunately the car was fine.

Mount Cook however was gone - hidden by dense fog that refused to lift. We left it and the Southern Alps behind, following Lake Pukaki South and then joining Highway 8 and pushing eastward out to Canterbury, where after Lake Tekapo the land became the most arid its been so far. Fortunately is was shortlived. We reached a tine township called Burkes Pass and suddenly grass - and I mean seriously lush, green grass, paved every hill. We had only salmon and trout farms behind us now and Canterbury Bight on the Pacifici ahead.

The day wound slowly onto the last leg of the journey. We joined Highway 1 for the last time and drove north to Christchurch on the longest and straightest road yet, as more and more traffic joined the route and more and more buildings began lining up on either side of the road, until finally we reached Christchurch.

The City Centre is the nicest we've come across, certainly, as they say, the most English city outside of England. We wandered around the Botanical Gardens, the Museum and a couple of weekend markets, though it is finally too difficult to keep going knowing tomorrow (Sunday) which we've got to live through twice (only doubling the length of our flights).

Though we've just seen on the news that the North Island is now flooded by torrential rain. Looks like we've had nothing but luck from the well known changeable weather of NZ.