When we got up the morning of December 6th, 2006, we only expected a bit of nausea from the impending 5+hour bus trip. But as you can see from the photos, this was not you ordinary bus ride. Our driver had been doing this route for 37 years, and was quick to share information and point out all the lovely sites (not that you could miss them!). The bus was very roomy with large windows; it was not full, so I hopped from seat to seat to get the best pictures.
Our first stop in the Canterbury Plains was the small town of Geraldine. We got a great deal of pleasure from this tiny place and its small shops and cafes. It also has a cheese shop/fudge shop. Our bus driver stops here twice every day and has many friends to greet him. It is sweet.
Moving from the Canterbury Plains into McKenzie Country, the sheep were plentiful. We must have seen 5000 sheep if we saw three. They were everywhere. Man, these animals sure know how to take it easy. Even the cows were just lying on their side in the sun and lounging around. Those cute sheep with white bodies and black faces were spotted as well!
Now it really got unbelievably lovely by the time we reached the "Church of the Good Shepard" which was our next stop as we came into Lake Tekapo (we laughed and laughed because you pronounce this as though it rhymes with "peek-a-choo").
The magnificent and plentiful lupin flowers captured our attention and the camera lens...By the edge of Lake Tekapo the sight of these flowers and the tiny church made of local stone and timber made us nearly gasp.
The little break at the church was quick, but then we pulled into the tiny town of Lake Tekapo and took a longer break. The air was literally buzzing with everyone's excitement and the bus driver reminded everyone that people get left here all the time because they dilly-dally around and miss the bus. We did not make that mistake.
Past Lake Tekapo is Lake Pukeki, which has the most beautiful color and opacity. Apparently this is because of something called "glacier flour" (who knew?) that is sediment left from melting glaciers. Nothing can live in this water; fish simply can't breathe. It is beautiful to look at, however. Across Lake Pukeki we saw our first glimpses of Mount Cook, which is only visible about 40 per cent of the time....We were so lucky because it had not been visible before this day in two weeks.
We pulled in to Mt. Cook village in about an hour's time and,,,,well, tune in to the next installment for our kayaking adventure!
1 comment:
I can't imagine Sonya kayaking ... I can hardly wait to see and hear about this!
Post a Comment