Landing in Middle-earth

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We said goodbye to Australia at the international airport in Sydney. It wasn't a tearful farewell since we will be returning there soon, but the airport took a parting shot by charging one of my arms and Magda's right leg for taking the train to their 'private' train stop. Robbery! We declared. And then got on our plane.

We touched down in New Zealand late at night. After nervously passing an unexpectedly militant interrogation at customs we walked out into freedom and promptly fell asleep on the airport lobby floor. Security watched over us along with two dozen other people and we slept the rest of the night.

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Once in Christchurch proper we hooked up with a friend from back in NY. She and her boyfriend made us feel warm and welcome in a manner that made us continue to feel guilty for taking up so much of the world's spare generosity. We are building a massive karma deficit so when we get back to NY it will be a good time to ask us for a favor.

At first glance Christchurch looks like any other little hamlet in Britain. Right, but we are in New Zealand. Well, anyway, the brits sure have been busy over the last couple hundred years, NZ is just the next example of the British Empire's world wide exercise in Anglification. We have run across many examples so far of that tiny island's meddling, but fashioning a mini Cambridge (complete with punters and posh boys colleges) at the edge of the South Pacific is just silly.

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When we arrived we started making arrangements to acquire a vehicle. Buying, renting or borrowing were all on the table but we ended up renting/borrowing from our friend's boyfriend Warwick (who closely resembles Daniel Craig, the new James Bond). He just now finds himself flush with cars, having bought a new subaru the day we arrived. He's loaned us his old Honda, which still has a few good years in it.

On our second day in Christchurch Warwick drove us into the hills overlooking the city and the sea beyond. It didn't take long before we saw what New Zealand is so darn famous for. Sweeping views across a golden grass hillscape rolling into the distance and down to the sea. It was shockingly beautiful and only minutes outside of the city. We couldn't wait to get out on our own to explore.

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The Drive

We had planned to buy Warwick's car but he decided it might be better just to loan it to us. There are hundreds of cheap cars to take off backpackers hands in NZ and most are for such a good deal that W couldn't hope to match the price, so we are giving him some cash and his car isn't taking up space in his garage.

We left Christchurch somewhat flustered and rushed after a drawn out shopping excursion. But we were on the road. The first few hours weren't too inspiring. We meandered through fog and mist along straight flat roads zipping past sheep farms. At one point though, as we drove up over a pass, we left the clouds behind as easily as stepping out of a forest and we entered Middle-earth. We've come to learn that NZ has many wild and strange landscapes, but our first glimpse of lake Tekapo, lake Pukak and the foothills of Mt. Cook were stunning. I haven't been able to update the blog much, partly because our experiences here in NZ have been with awe inspiring landscapes, which quite honestly leave me without words. I have felt like we've already seen and described the most wonderful landscapes in the world but I was wrong.