On the drive from Mount Cook, we stopped at Lake Tekopo. The Lakes extreme blue comes from the glaciers grinding rock into a powder that is suspended in the water. This was a quick stop for a few pictures, let the little man burn some energy, grab some lunch, and breakup the 4 hour drive.
Christchurch, the South Island’s largest city, was decimated by an earthquake back in 2011. The city is mainly rebuilt, but you still see collapsed buildings and empty lots where buildings existed and have not yet been rebuilt. There is a beautiful downtown with shops and restaurants along a well-manicured stream as well as lots of beautiful beaches and parks.
Our time in Christchurch was a bit more relaxed than our usual breakneck pace. We did 2 nice runs through Hagley Park and the Botanical Gardens to start each day. The first day we did the Godly Head Hike, a rolling set of hills through golden fields on the peninsula just outside the city. On our walk back the winds got extreme and we needed to pickup the pace so avoid a meltdown by the little man in my hiking pack.
After the run on the second day, Bryce and I went to Margaret Mahy Playground to splash around for a few hours while Danielle looked in some of the boutique shops (and got some well deserved downtime).
We left Christchurch to head back cross the island, which meant we would need to go through Arthur’s pass. We combined the Arthur’s Pass Walking Track with the Devil’s Punch Bowl waterfall hike. The Arthur’s pass Track weaved through forest with a few brief mountain views and small waterfalls before abruptly ending with a historical sign explaining Arthur’s journey… we were a little disappointed with this ending. We jumped back into the car and continued our journey to the Glaciers and then Abel Tasman National Park.
