Day seven and we were packing to leave our home for the past few days and south out of Christchurch. Ou final destination was a motel in Omarama near Mount Cook, but first we'd decided to take a detour into the mountains around Mount Sunday - the setting of Rohan during the Lord of the Rings movies.
On the outskirts of Christchurch we came across something that everyone must stop off at whenever they pass. A cookie factory with direct to customers shop fixed to the side. Yes, as the sign says it clearly was Cookie Time!!
$20 later but with over a kg of cookies on our backseat we headed off for Rohan.
...and promptly stopped at stunning views of the Rakaia river. The bridge that spans the river is New Zealands longest bridge, spanning 1.75km. The Rakaia is what's called a braided river, and offered some stunning views from the bridge, naturally we couldn't resist stopping for a closer look once we got off, but unfortunately the pics we took there didn't nearly do the complex network of rivers justice.
Once we left the Rakaia we headed inland, home of the Horse Lords and where roads long straight roads go on forever.
All through my childhood I fostered a dream of driving across the length of the US, taking in the sights of the rarer places you don't see on tv that much. I was never interested in LA or New York, but the rural areas of the US always spurred my imagination. The quaint towns and outback roads seemed ripe for adventure, and in many respects the drive to Mount Sunday offered amazing echoes from my imagination. The towns were quant, the roads went on forever, there was good music playing and amazingly sunny weather. As I put my foot to the accelerator, the world really did feel like my playground.
Eventually we reached a place called Hakatere Station just 30km away from Mount Sunday (where they filmed Edoras, the capital of Rohan in Lord of the Rings). Unfortunately the rest of the route was a very rural gravel track, and whilst suitable for 4x4s wasn't an option for my vauxhall rental car.
We decided to turn back to an equally impressive looking mountain a few kilometers back, Mount Barrosa, and do a little hiking.
Mount Barrosa
First of all, I'd like to point out that the weather fluctuated between 28-32 degrees as we hiked. Yes, it was that hot, and we walked up a mountain in it.
Fortunately - because we weren't sure any shops would be open on a Sunday - we'd brought several litres of water in the car with us, and these were hastily shoved into our packs before we climbed.
The going was tough - especially for me, I reckon Yo found it significantly easier, but then she is some form of marathon-running, 100-mile bike-ride, cybernetic hot-chick. Right from the start the track ascended steeply, and it only got steeper. At one point about halfway up, we now believe we actually veered off the track (accidentally) and continued the climb without any real path, cutting our way through gorse and shrubs, with loose and perilous sandy soil being the only thing for our boots to grip. I spent most of the ascent wondering how the hell I was going to get down again!
Finally, we made it to the top, and my worry drifted away as I was treated to some simply staggering views.
...and then it was time to come down. Though there was another way; now on the top, we had a great view of the path we lost, and we must have taken the hardest route there was to the top, for as we descended by a different route (to meet with the path) the footing was easy going, though we did meet up with some sheep who very kindly moved out of our way and climb a nearby hill, where they waited patiently in line for us to pass.
Once again at the bottom, we climbed back into our car, turned on the Air Conditioning, and headed further south to Omarama.
The Drive to Omarama
Wow, what views!
The 3.5 hour drive took us past Lake Takepo, which had such jaw-dropping water that we had to stop:
Lake Pukaki with views of Mount Cook, again, we had to stop:
And finally we reached Omarama and the end of an epic day.
...Almost.
The day had one more trick up its sleeve, for no sooner had we put down our bags in the motel than Yo wanted to go for another walk. Yesterday I called her a Kender, maybe now she's a pet dog? ;-)
The walk took us along a river that skirted the edge of the motel. Compared to the vistas of just a few hours before it was pretty, but in a low-key sort of way. Like a walk around the village pond.
It did sport this, however; Martian Red Weed:
Walk over, it was time to investigate food. Omarama sports a couple of cafe's and restaurants, and we thought chances were pretty high of getting something decent to eat. we did, however, completely forget it was 9pm on a Sunday.
As such, we found a cheese scone.
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