Subject: December 30: An unexpected surprise drive, then bidding farewell to the LOVELY South Island and hello to the not-so-lovely North Island
Date Sent: Sun, January 3, 2010 5:01:34 PM
G'day,
When I woke up today I had no idea what I wanted to do on my last day in South Island on this trip. My options were stay in the hotel lazily watching tv until it was time to go to the airport, go to the city and see the inside of the Christchurch cathedral, roam around the gardens in this "Garden City", or go for a drive.
I went for a drive. :)
I had heard other people talk about this, and saw it in brochures too -- there is a gorgeous scenic drive Southeast of Christchurch to the town of Akaroa and back. It's less than 100km each way, and that was the perfect distance for me -- I had to be at the airport at 5:10pm for my 5:30pm flight. (yup, that's all the time that's needed for turning in the rental car, checking in, going through security and to the gate -- provided of course everything goes smoothly).
So I started driving south on Hwy 75, and for a while I was wondering why I came here. For a good 30-40 km the road goes by farm after farm after farm -- where there are sheep, sheep, and more sheep. There is nothing "scenic" along this way... and I was seriously considering turning back and doing one of my other activities...
THEN things changed... The road starts climbing up a volcano and from that point on the scenery is GORGEOUS... It was really one of the best scenic days after leaving Milford Sound area! Beautiful green hills and the drive/road is just fantastic -- the kind of road where one false move and DOWN you go! I LOVE THOSE ROADS! :) Locally, it can be compared to Mt. Hamilton drive or the rim road around Crater Lake in Oregon. I wish I had my "backup photographer" on this trip though -- because of that type of road I couldn't take too many pictures while driving. Oh well... next time!
There are a couple of branches called "Tourist Drives" (#1, #2, etc) and I took a couple of those too -- which were even better than that main highway! There is a view of the town of Akaroa and down below and the bay/Pacific Ocean coming in through the moutains.... heaven!
I was cured of my cold.
I hung around these roads for as long as possible, then went to the airport for my flight to "The City of Sails" -- Auckland, NZ. I had driven just a little over 4200 km on the South Island, and will am already thinking about going back in 2010!!!
The flight to Auckland was on time, I got my check-in bag without any problems, and drove to my hotel in downtown -- got upgraded to a "club floor" room :) for 2 nights... From my room I had a view of the tallest tower in the Southern Hemisphere, and I'd be going there the next day for some more daredevil stuff...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Dec 29 | Contents | Dec 31 |