Christchurch, New Zealand (Southern Alps, Land of Lord of the Rings)
Today is Tuesday, February 6th. This is our second day crossing the Tasman Sea. The sea is much calmer than yesterday, but the ship is still rolling quite a bit. One of the things my gym trainer at home emphasizes during my sessions with him is balance control. Well, after nearly five weeks on this ship I suspect my balance is as good as it has been in a long time.
Last Saturday was our Christchurch area visit. For a reason I will explain in a moment, this blog post will be quite brief.
Christchurch is not itself on the water. In fact, it is separated from the sea by a mountain range. The port of call is in the town of Lyttleton. Like each of the ports we have entered in New Zealand, this is a bustling commercial port. As always, I start off with a few photos depicting what we saw when we first opened our curtains and as we approached the port on our arrival. First is a glorious sunrise with rapidly changing light that made for a beautiful scene. Note the piles of lumber in one part of the port. Lumbering is a big industry throughout NZ.
Of the several excursion options offered this day, we opted for the one titled "Southern Alps, Land of Lord of the Rings," not because we have read the books or seen the movie trilogy because we have done neither. We chose this one because we saw this excursion as the only one that would get us deep into NZ's interior and because the photos accompanying the description of the excursion depicted gorgeous snow capped mountains. As a consequence of our decision, we were bussed from the port on a roadway that tunnels under the mountain that separates Lyttleton from Christchurch and then along the outskirts of Christchurch until we got into the countryside. We never saw Christchurch itself. As things played out, we regretted our decision and wished we had instead opted to spend the day in Christchurch proper. Those of our fellow travelers who did just that offered mixed reviews of the city because so much of the damage from the devastating 2011 earthquake is still evident and the city remains a work in progress. In any event, here are a few photos of the tunnel and the countryside we rode through once beyond the outskirts of Christchurch.
I'm including a few pictures of a small lake and an adjacent community of very small and simple cabins located near the foothills of the mountain range where Lord of the Rings was filmed because our guide told us this area was the pride and joy of those who owned these cabins. I guess these folks have never seen the likes of our Maine lakes. Or maybe it's just a matter of personal taste.
After driving about 90 minutes we arrived at the site of Mt. Potts Station, home of Edoras from Lord of the Rings. While the landscape is beautiful, overcast skies obscured about a third of the mountain tops and, in any event, the snow that we were told had covered the peaks just a few days before had entirely disappeared as a result of cyclone-like weather conditions that prevailed just prior to our arrival in the area. So, here are a few photos of the very location where the epic movie trilogy was filmed. How many different views of essentially the same scene dare we show? As you can see, every bit of the movie set has been removed.
Tomorrow will be our last day at sea before arriving in Melbourne on Thursday. I hope to blog tomorrow about Dunedin, our last stop before leaving NZ.
Last Saturday was our Christchurch area visit. For a reason I will explain in a moment, this blog post will be quite brief.
Christchurch is not itself on the water. In fact, it is separated from the sea by a mountain range. The port of call is in the town of Lyttleton. Like each of the ports we have entered in New Zealand, this is a bustling commercial port. As always, I start off with a few photos depicting what we saw when we first opened our curtains and as we approached the port on our arrival. First is a glorious sunrise with rapidly changing light that made for a beautiful scene. Note the piles of lumber in one part of the port. Lumbering is a big industry throughout NZ.
Of the several excursion options offered this day, we opted for the one titled "Southern Alps, Land of Lord of the Rings," not because we have read the books or seen the movie trilogy because we have done neither. We chose this one because we saw this excursion as the only one that would get us deep into NZ's interior and because the photos accompanying the description of the excursion depicted gorgeous snow capped mountains. As a consequence of our decision, we were bussed from the port on a roadway that tunnels under the mountain that separates Lyttleton from Christchurch and then along the outskirts of Christchurch until we got into the countryside. We never saw Christchurch itself. As things played out, we regretted our decision and wished we had instead opted to spend the day in Christchurch proper. Those of our fellow travelers who did just that offered mixed reviews of the city because so much of the damage from the devastating 2011 earthquake is still evident and the city remains a work in progress. In any event, here are a few photos of the tunnel and the countryside we rode through once beyond the outskirts of Christchurch.
I'm including a few pictures of a small lake and an adjacent community of very small and simple cabins located near the foothills of the mountain range where Lord of the Rings was filmed because our guide told us this area was the pride and joy of those who owned these cabins. I guess these folks have never seen the likes of our Maine lakes. Or maybe it's just a matter of personal taste.
Tomorrow will be our last day at sea before arriving in Melbourne on Thursday. I hope to blog tomorrow about Dunedin, our last stop before leaving NZ.
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