Mar 5, last day

Couldn't sleep so I got up and read about things to do in christchurch, which included a hike up Mt Cavendish beside the gondola. After breakfast, we organized our luggage and tried to call Nicole and Blair. We then drove to the base of the gondola and hiked up to the observation deck, and got a picture of Christchurch.

We also got a picture of Christchurch's beach.

There we found a souvenir shop at which we bought 2 T-shirts, a sheep doll with sound and a fleece jacket. After returning from the hike we went back to the hostel and called again. This time we got Blair. After lunch,we filled up the car with gas and returned it, and were dropped off at the airport. Whew made it through driving on the wrong side of the road.

                                          Here is Susie at Christchurch Airport just before leaving.
The flight home was long particularly because of the transfer in San Francisco where we had to clear US security; they required us to collect our baggage and re-check it. We got to Toronto just before 9 p.m., and cleared customs seamlessly. We took the Go Bus to Scarborough and stayed overnight with Kanji's aunt. We had to leave on the 8 a.m. bus to Kingston because GL's funeral was at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.
It was a great trip but we were happy to be home.

Mar 4

Susie got up very early and started to organize our things for the flight home. After breakfast we drove toward the ocean and Akaroa, and saw more venison farms. At the saddle between Little River and Akaroa, we took the turn left and travelled along the summit road for about 300 m and stopped at the parking lot for Montgomery? Track. The weather was sunny and quite warm. We took this trail past the large tree with an 8 m circumference trunk, then to the first peak lookout. There was evidence that these mountains used to be covered with large trees at one time.

After that we continued along the ridge over a number of stiles to the first big peak. The trail went around it so we had to find a way up through the prickly stuff; 2:15 h up. The return was a treat because the gentle slope made for a very easy walk. We took the alternate way to the road and the walked the summit road back to the car.

Here is a picture with Akaroa in the background.










We drove to Akaroa, we walked through the town. We took SH75 to Christchurch ending up on Lincoln Road, i.e. Jailhouse so we knew our location. We stopped at the Pak n Save to buy some chocolate bars, and then went to the Old Country House hostel. After showers we walked downtown for supper and then bought a T-shirt for Kanji.

Mar 3

It had rained overnight and the mountains were shrouded in clouds. As we drove toward Arthur's Pass it started to rain, and it rained right into the settlement of Arthur's Pass although there was some blue sky showing. After visiting the DOC there, we decided to hike the Bealey Spur trail and started hiking at about 11 a.m.. We reached the hut in 1½ hours, and after a quick bite, we continued to the top of the ridge stopping at the bump that was definitely higher than the ridge behind it.

On our return hike we talked to a couple from Toronto whose three children had gone to Queen's. Then we ran into the couple that we had met at the top of Roy's Peak in Wanaka. This was a very nice hike with no rain; we could see heavy clouds to the west so it was probably raining in Arthur's pass. We stopped at Cave Stream and went through the cave again. This time I wore a bathing suit and carried our valuables high in my pack. We drove on to Methven to stay overnight; along the way we saw more venison farms.

Mar 2

This morning, we drove to the Frans Josef Glacier parking lot and started walking toward the glacier. It was cool but in bright sunshine. Along the way Susie combed for rocks. The views of this glacier were better than at Fox Glacier. There we saw scads of people walking in groups with gear for the on glacier walks; some had crampons but most just the coats, pants and boots. On the way out we must have met well over 200 tourists in these groups. In addition, the air over the glacier was continuously covered by between 1 and 3 helicopters. Obviously the tourist industry was making up for the time lost to yesterday's rain. All this rain ensures that the rain forest on the west coast gets the water it needs.

The drive to Hokitika was mostly in sun, and we checked into the Jade Factory hostel, which was very nice. We made a tour of the greenstone (pounamu/jade) shops and bought two for the granddaughters and a pendant for Susie. We walked around and then down the beach; there a nice local lady gave Susie a piece of raw greenstone. Later that evening we went to the glow worm dell and saw thousands of glow worms, and a hedgehog.

Mar 1

Today we are off to the west coast. After starting into Haast Pass it started to rain and rained all day. Nevertheless we stopped to look at a couple of water falls, one of which had a lot of flat rocks that people had piled up to make markers; we made an inukshuk which was the largest structure in the area. Later we stopped in Haast for fish and chips. While there, our German friends from Wanaka came in and we sat together. They had stopped at the same falls and saw our inukshuk. While we were talking about it the waitresses overheard us, and said that they were from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. During lunch we heard a loud cheer from a group of clients and asked what it was all about. They told us that Canada had just won the gold medal in men's hockey. Then we cheered. After saying goodbye to Christian and Annika, we walked to our car and saw Heather whom we had seen in both Te Anau and Wanaka.

From there we drove until we found a beach that had white polished stones (which Susie brought home), and did some beach combing.

After that it was on to Fox Glacier to walk up to the tongue. All of this was done in the rain so that by the time we checked into accommodations in Frans Josef; we were wet and cold. This was helped immensely by their sauna.