North to South…Sea and Ski….

Sunday, July 31

Today, we drove to the city of Rotorua. Much of the North Island of New Zealand is an active volcanic zone, and Rotorua, known for its hot springs, is the largest city in that area. While hot springs provide an endless source of hot water, they also emit an odor of sulphur. It was not overwhelming but it was constant. Each room in the hotel we stayed at had a hot tub that had to be manually filled with hot water from the hot springs for each use. Michele and John soaked in the hot tub and relaxed during the day while Thomas and Megan took a tour of Hobbiton in the nearby town of Matamata. Hobbiton was created as part of the movie set for the Lord of the Rings. The tour consisted of a guided walking tour of the movie set, and Thomas and Megan made sure to get some good pictures. At the end of the tour, they received complimentary drinks, all brewed at and exclusively for Hobbiton, at the Green Dragon Inn. The experience was incredible for them.

Thomas and Megan at Hobbiton

Monday, August 1

We left Rotorua and drove to the Auckland airport to catch a flight to Christchurch, the largest city on the South Island. We flew with Jetstar, which essentially fields a flying cattle car (very tight seats so they can cram in as many people as possible). Although it was tight, the flight took us over the Southern Alps, the mountain range that runs through the South Island. The snow-capped mountains made for an incredible view as we flew above them. After landing, we spent the afternoon driving to the beach and looking around the Christchurch city center. In 2010, a large earthquake devastated Christchurch, and its impact is still apparent. Most of the tall buildings had to be taken down and the city is in a massive rebuilding stage (with new earthquake resistance technology which was not in place previously). We found an area with various ethnic restaurants but decided to eat at a place called Burgers & Beer Inc. The burgers were huge and just as delicious, and there were several options for the type of meat on each burger, including beef, sheep, pork, and venison (we have seen quite a few deer farms through NZ). We listened to American country music as we ate. Even Thomas had a beer as the drinking age in NZ is 18.

A few pictures from Christchurch. Hard to believe we are at the Pacific ocean looking east.

Tuesday, August 2

This was a day we had been waiting for – a ski trip to Mt. Hutt. We got up early (5:00am) and drove about an hour to the village of Methven. We rented out ski equipment and took a shuttle up the mountain as we did not want to drive. I am very glad we didn’t. The road up the mountain was ridiculous. Very steep and tons of curves, all without guard rails and featuring cliffs on the sides of the road that went down hundreds of feet. We (really just me) were white-knuckled the entire time. And despite this, there were cars speeding by the shuttle bus on the road which could barely be called a two-lane road. The shuttle took us up the lodge, which was well above the tree-line, and the lifts went from there to the summit. We got to the lodge and got ourselves ready for the day. I did not ski and saved the others seats so we could relax after ski runs (and of course, I was the photographer). Being a Tuesday, there were virtually no lift lines, so they could ski as much as they wanted. The views from the top of the mountain were fabulous. On one side, you could look down and see the fields on the coastal plain; on the other side, all you could see were high mountain peaks. We literally, were above the clouds. We had great weather – clear skies and slightly above freezing in the afternoon, so the skiing was great. Nobody fell…. well, except for when Thomas slipped in the ski lodge while getting himself a cup of coffee. Let’s hope that is the only mishap and continue to pray for safe travels.

Pictures from skiing…

John took the camera up to the top and took this shot. They were so high they were skiing literally above the clouds…No, this is not from the airplane!