Been busy scanning all those pics but finished this morning so now here is the next installment....
From Christchurch I took the bus to go to Queenstown which is the 'Outdoor'-center of the island where you can do all kinds of crazy stuff. They invented bungee jumping there. But that was not why I went there. I would have never had imagined though that the cross-island journey would be one of the best days I've had on the trip.
The trip started eventless, lots of sheep everywhere. Made a potty break somewhere and had something to eat. Then I think it must have been shortly after lunch that the landscape started to change. The drivers of the public busses are partly tour guides so they explain you everything as well. In the morning the driver had asked if someone would be interested to fly on Mount Cook with a helicopter in the afternoon. Since it was a bright, clear day I took the spur of the moment decision to fly up on the glacier. One of the best decisions I could have made....
The landscape turned into this and from there it got better and better:
Next stop was at Lake Tekapo and unfortunately the sun was on the wrong side so the pics don't do the colour of the lake any justice. It was a milky turqois
This chapel is famous but I don't remember why.
And close to the chapel there is the small statue of the sheepdog.
When we continued our way we arrived at Lake Pukaki where I really regretted that I was in a bus and couldn't stop for taking pics. But at least the colour of the lake looks a little bit like it really was. Imagine the pics if I'd have been able to get out of the bus....
In the distance we could already see the snow covered Mount Cook.
Down at the heli-port there was no snow.
When we were boarding our heli the pilot said 'One of you has to sit in front with me.' I guess I was inside on that seat faster than he could bat his eyelashes...
It was my first and only heli-flight so far but I loved it. Lake Pukaki from up there:
We landed on one of the glaciers close to Mount Cook and walked around in the snow a little bit and of course took pics....
More views... Mount Cook
And a valley down...
Not sure if anything interesting happened on the way from Mount Cook to Queenstown afterwards but I don't think so. The pics are only a small impression of how beautiful the landscape was. And I was VERY, VERY lucky to see this on such a splendid day....