Kiwi Experience: The Final Time

13th - 21st June 2014

I was back onto the Kiwi Experience bus for one final leg. This time I had Bods as a driver who either didn't recognise me or really couldn't care less when I reminded him. He isn't the cheeriest of drivers! I was pretty hanging after a big night and only having 3 hours sleep so I mostly slept on the way to Lake Tekapo.

Moody sheep

Bods told us a couple of stories abut the area that I was half listening too. There was this guy who had this dog that would herd sheep back to his house or something whilst was he was sat in the pub. He got caught one day when his dog went back to him and they threw him in prison. He escaped from prison 4 times. At some point he became a local hero and they named the area after him. Odd.

that guys dog i mentioned

We stopped off by the Church of the Good Shepherd which is just next to Lake Tekapo. It is used by all religions and looks stunning in the afternoon sun.

Lake Tekapo

Church of the Good Shepherd

Room with a view

We checked into our lodge which is one of the nicest accommodations I've stayed in. The rooms were a bit cramped but the big living room windows gave a great view of the lake. I wanted to do nothing more than crawl into bed and watch a film but it would have been such a waste. There was a massive hill just next to the lake called Mount John and I decided to drag myself up it as it was such a nice day and there would be a good view.

Spooky trees

The trees on the track looked kinda creepy. Really tall and spindly and covered in a green moss. It looked quite impressive.

After the hike

It was quite a hike up the hill but the top was absolutely stunning. I thought the view would be good but I had no idea. 360 degree views of snow capped mountains. This was the most stunning place I had seen in New Zealand just because of the shear scale of it and strange feel it gave me. There was no wind and very few man made eye sores. Just silence and beauty. It was like being transported to a different world or back in time or maybe even like looking out from the real Edoras (Lord of the Rings reference). Unfortunately its one of those places where no amount of photos or videos can do it the justice but I tried my best!

Back down by sunset

I was so glad I dragged myself up there but by the time I got down it was definitely bed time! I had an early night and got up in time to join the others watching Spain get pummelled by the Dutch in the world cup.

just a few early risers

From Lake Tekapo it was on to the shaking city of Christchurch which was recently voted in the top 10 of places to visit in 2014 in the world! God knows why.

Christchurch Cathedral

The story of Christchurch is very well known. It was rocked by two large earthquakes in late 2010 early 2011. The second caused massive amounts of damage to central areas of Christchurch. Almost total destruction it seemed when I visited Canterbury museum where they have a section about the earthquake. These photos were taken by officials there to assist with the damage report and other official business but they began taking pictures of things that just 'need to be seen'.

Completely destroyed

It was easy to watch on the news about the destruction of a city a whole world away but when it was there staring you in the face like this it was difficult to swallow.

one of the main streets

Out on the street over 3 years later the aftermath is still very present. By now the local people had expected a hugely rejuvenated city centre or at least some buildings in progress but sadly not. What comes down basically to red tape with insurers, and other similar issues, it has meant that little has changed in the intervening years. The majority of buildings have been torn down and the sites abandoned which has given way to more carparks then any other city centre in the world. This has left the centre of Christchurch mostly void of buildings and therefore people. You could easily mistake it for some outer suburb industrial estate!

Carparks

I found a couple of streets that had seemingly been left untouched since the day of the earthquake. You see abandoned buildings in every major city but I've never seen an entirely abandoned street before!

Abandoned street

Building left to rot

Even the iconic Christchurch Cathedral has been left uninhabited whilst they decide what to do with it. I think with a lot of the city there is debate whether to revolutionise the city or to restore the old victorian style buildings.

Christchurch Cathedral

Its not all doom and gloom in Christchurch, however, there is life in the old dog yet. A lot of open spaces and blank walls has given rise to a lot of street art and sculptures. The have started restoring the Arts Centre which is one of the old style buildings. Work has now begun on rebuilding the city but its not a case of building from the ground up because so much structural work needs to be done under the roads with a new network of utilities.

The Arts Centre

Whilst plans for the Cathedral are still up for debate the area around it as its on plan which I saw on a billboard in the street. In fact I saw a computer model for plans of a completely rebuilt city centre online

The now famous Re:Start container mall is the icon of the city's recovery. They've converted brightly coloured ship containers into shops and cafes for a make shift city centre which is now a tourist hotspot. They have began moving these containers to a more permanent site making way for a new retail development.

The container Mall

I feel quite defensive of Christchurch because its not its fault nor the fault of the people who live here that the city is quite frankly a dump. There can be no argument that it should not have taken this long for a major city in New Zealand to rebuild or at least start to rebuild but start it has. New plans are being made and approved all the time now and the city is finally on the mend.

I did enjoy my time in Christchurch despite the massive reality check (and witnessing England make a poor start to the world cup!). I stayed at Around the World backpackers which is owned by the same person I had worked for in Dunedin so I got a bit of a discount. The Canterbury museum was good too. Lots of rooms to view including an interactive body sensory room where I spent a good long while trying some plastic organs back into a body. It was easy apart I had one thing left over that I had no idea what it was and it didn't seem to fit anywhere!

I had spent a few days in Christchurch which usually meant I got a new driver but Bods had had a couple of days off before carrying on so I had him again for the trip to Kaikora (he seemed happier this time!).

Kaikora

Kaikora

We arrived in Kaikora quite early in the afternoon so there was still lots of time to explore the place. I debated whether or not to go on the whale watching cruise but as it got cancelled anyway I was glad I decided against it. Instead, I got a lift with Bods out onto the peninsular which is home to a colony of seals.

Seal!

I was surprised to see the seals so close to the road. Some were even on the walkway lazing around in the afternoon sun. They would always keep an eye on you as you walked around but other than that they didn't seem all that bothered by people at all. I walked around the peninsular for a bit before making the long walk back to town.

what you looking at?!

maaaaahhh!

bit of coral!

The next morning we had another seal adventure. First of all stopping off at a look out where there were some seals playing about in the water next to the sea. Then we went on a bit of a walk to a waterfall where there were hundreds and hundreds of seals!

More seals

are you filming me in the bath? away, man, I'm naked!

This pool underneath the waterfall is where all the seals go in their youth to socialise with other seals which is a vital process for a seal growing up. It was really cool to see them all jumping around and playing with each other. We stayed here for about 20 minutes just watching them. A couple of seals came up out the pool to say hello.

hello

We were travelling for the rest of the day. On the bus up to Picton and then the ferry over to Wellington. I saw Toddy again who was journeying south. It was a rather uneventful day after the morning.

The suburbs of Wellington

I spent an extra couple of days in Wellington mainly because I didn't want to be on a bus when the second England game was on. Not that that was worth getting up for! After that disappointment in the morning I went for a walk up Mt Victoria again. This time I wasn't on crutches so it didn't take half as long. It was also a really nice day so I wandered around a bit more and found a beach, if you can call it a beach, it was more like a small patch of sand.

Wellington

Wellington "Beach"

On the way back to the hostel I bumped into Andrea, who would be my next driver, and Ben. Ben was supposedly retired but they and persuaded him to do one more trip for the Kiwi Experience. It was a good job I bumped into Andrea really because I very nearly missed the bus. I saw the bus pulling out and I started running and she saw me! I took the bus up to Turangi where after a 2 hour wait I was to catch the Naked Bus to Ohakune. There was a bit of a cockup as I had bought a ticket for the week before! I had to pay a more expensive price in cash but at least I got there!

I finally arrived in Ohakune and moved into Turoa Lodge ready for the winter season on Mount Ruapehu. I have never been so excited to start a job in all of my life!!