Christchurch to Queesntown (days 36 and 37)

I arrived in Christchurch yesterday afternoon, after a long but uneventful flight. apart from being charged for excess baggage.  Thank goodness neither the protests in Bangkok nor the fallout from the volcano affected me.  I only hope flights get back to normal soon, although I've just heard on the news that the eruption has now increased in intensity.

I must say that after the heat and the hassles of Indochina, enjoyable though it was, it was very pleasant to be back in the west.  It's funny how simple things like being able to brush your teeth with tap water suddenly count for so much!   The people in Christchurch were so friendly, too.  I only had to take out a map whilst I was on the street for someone to come up and ask if I needed help.  Christchurch itself is a rather sleepy place, where every street seems to be named after an English town or county.  I stayed on Hereford Street, which is next to Worcester Street and Gloucester Street, crossed by Oxford Terrace and close to Cambridge Terrace.

I picked up a hire car this morning and drove down to Queenstown, some 500k.  There was very little traffic apart from the odd truck, 4 by 4 or touring coach.  The roads are pretty well all single carriageway, with a speed limit of 100k/hour.  Since I had to cross the mountains that run down the centre of South Island, near Mount Cook, I expected the roads to be rather slow and I was surprised to find that the slopes were pretty gentle and mostly fairly straight.  I was therefore able to keep up a good speed and it only took six hours for the journey, including a lunch break.


After the first 200k, which was pretty flat, the scenery was very impressive, with mountains and lakes, all rather reminiscent of our Lake District.  Since it is now autumn, the colours were very pretty, with stunning mustard yellow poplars, yellowowing willows and a mixture of red, yellow and green grape vines (the leaves, not the grapes).  It was good to see that There are lots of small wineries as you approach Queenstown.  Unfortunately, I won't have time to visit them.
 
I was surprised to find that the mountains all appear to be made of sedimentary rock, which would indicate that the whole of New Zealand, or at least the South Island, must once have been under water.  Through most of the drive, warning signs were posted at all the bends giving advisory speed limits.  What I found odd, was that these all ended in five (35, 45, 55, etc.) and never in zero.  I wonder why they never think that, say, 50k/hr would be advisablk?

The motel I'm staying in is on the road into Queenstown and has stunning views over the lake.  Tomorrow I'm going on a coach tour and boat trip to Milford Sound, on everyone's advice.  Then on Thursday I've booked an all action day, including free-fall skydiving, jet boating, a helicopter ride and white-water rafting.  I only hope I don't chicken out!  I'll let you know in a later post.