There are just SO many things to do and see around Christchurch that it is difficult to decide on any one direction to go – I am fortunate in that when I make a decision, Colin is only too happy to go along with it.
So today we found a remote place in Christchurch – as high as we could get. I had considered taking a ride on the Gondola but noticed there was a road that actually drove right along the top of the hill so we shall save the Gondola trip for Queenstown. So we made the little hire car earn its petrol today. The road I drove was only one car wide and very twisty so I was not looking forward to meeting another car coming down – since the side of the road I was on had the narrowest of edges before the steep drop! I did meet other cars – but luckily it was not far from where there was a wider shoulder so our mirrors didn’t meet! There was once place where we had to wait for ten minutes while a team of council workmen with tip truck, wheel barrows and rakes were filling holes with bitumen and taking the full width of the track to operate. They were quite grateful that we were not as impatient as some drivers seem to be! Some Kiwi’s are quick to use their horns in their cars to express their impatience!
1/250 sec f/8 ISO 200 26mm
When we reached a place where we could pull the car over safely and get out with our cameras the views of the city were magnificent. Colin has had fun today taking lots of groups of photos that need to be “stitched” to make panoramas. In fact he has taken as many photos as I have!
1/250 sec f/8 ISO 200 26mm
Higher still we drove until we came to a ridge from which we could see Lyttelton Harbour on one side and the spread of Christchurch on the Canterbury Plains on the other. There is a stone “monument” that is like a shelter – but affords no shelter from the wind at all. It is in recognition of the pioneer women who struggled up the hillside carrying their worldly goods from the harbour below and paused to see the spread of the Canterbury Plains below them. I expect it was all green and lush when they first saw it – now you can barely see any farming land for all the homes on it.
This is the view we had of Lyttelton Harbour. This spot on the hill was bitterly cold and the wind was so strong it was difficult to stand upright.
1/250 sec f/8 ISO 200 26mm
We really explored that hilltop and even found where the army had been stationed with their gun emplacements ready to defend the country from possible invasion by the Japanese in WW2. But an even better find was a little rest stop called “The Sign of the Kiwi” in which we purchased a delicious cup of coffee and a couple of shortbread biscuits topped with almonds. Yum! That warmed us up again! Our seat in the window was warmed by the sun so we were reluctant to leave.
1/250 sec f/8 ISO 200 26mm
By the time we reached the bottom of the mountain it was time for lunch and even more exploring – another beautiful place. We went to New Brighton. It is a seaside place and needs more than a sentence to describe it! I will include pictures in my album eventually!
AJ
No comments:
Post a Comment