From Queenstown we drove to Lake Te Kapo, where we spent a couple of days camped next to the lovely turquoise lake. We drove to a lookout point to see the majestic Mount Cook, but it was shrouded in clouds that day, so we satisfied ourselves with a post card.
There are busloads of Japanese tourists at the major sightseeing venues, and the women are quite taken with Janey and Ellie. I imagine they are the first American children many have seen, as we did not meet any others in our travels. They are always patting them, pinching their cheeks, and saying how cute they were. At Mount Cook Janey was quite the celebrity. Maybe it was because there was no visible mountain to photograph, but a young adult asked if she could get her picture with Janey. Janey was happy to oblige, and then tourist after tourist lined up to have their picture taken with her. It was so fun to watch, and I only wish I had gotten a picture of everyone taking a picture with her!
What we saw.
Post card of what we could have seen.We were able to tour ¾ of the South Island in the 3 ½ weeks we were there. It looks so compact on the map, but it entailed a lot of driving and pulling out to a new camp every one or two days to get it all in. The drive time went fast, as we read together most of the time. We got through J.M. Berry's, Peter Pan (interesting), George MacDonald's, The Princess and the Goblin (delightful), and The Princess and Curdie (fascinating) and Robin Hood (adventurous!)
After Te Kapo we spent the night in Keakoura. This was a highlight of our trip south as we took the chance to go wale watching the next day. Ellie was too young to go on the boat, so Steve took the boys at 6:45 in the morning and I took the older girls at 10:45. The boys saw a sperm whale 3 times and the girls saw them four times. The technology they used to know where and when the whales would emerge for about ten minutes at a time was fascinating, but being so close to an animal so large in the wild was breath taking. I think it was an experience the children will never forget!
Photo by Whitney
Photo by Whitney
To see a map of the places we traveled so far in this series, click on this link: <http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&ie=UTF8&ll=-40.359103,172.875366&spn=8.067848,12.128906&z=6&msid=116765397961150020384.000451b63510a46db34d4>
1 comment:
Incredible pictures of the whale's fluke. It is wondrous to think of a sentient, living thing that large and that harmless to mankind.
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