Kia Ora New Zealand

posted on March 13, 2007 in New Zealand,Travel

And a happy Vimto to you to.

We’ve arrived in New Zealand. A country where sheep outnumber people 10 to 1. I like those odds. We landed in Christchurch. You couldn’t have a more Christian town name than if you called it Jesus-Mother-Of-Mary-Town.

Cathedral Square Christchurch

Tram in Christchurch

We’ve exchanged the heady pleasures of all hours drinking and bronzed beach time with walking, Scrabble and bed by ten. First stop was Lake Tekapo. It was here that Lewis ‘Action Man Alpine Assault’ Adams left us to undertake a 4 day Alpine Mountaineering Course, leaving Rosey and myself to fend for ourselves. Whilst it did mean we had to get someone else to tie our laces, we made the most of it during a period of time we like to call the Rosebot Adventure.

We set out on several yomps (technical term for walking), using Ray Mears like survival skills to traverse the wilderness. Our first trek took us over Mount John along a couple of lakes and through some military of defense land – oops.

Lake Tekapo

Our second yomp was even more ambitious. We could see a hill from the hostel and figured it’d be worth a bosh. We set out before 9 and just walked in the direction of the hill. Two and a half hours later and the base of the hill didn’t seem to be getting any closer. We eventually started our ascent just as the weather closed in.

Yomping in the rain

It could easily have been a wet day in the Peaks. We went as high as we dared and finally reached ‘Our Peak’ for a cold wet tuna sandwich.

Rosey and me at 'our' peak

We considered making Rosebot Adventures into a professional outfit – a 25% safety record since 2006!

Customer recommendations:

Steve Vegetables: “I was very impressed the cost of a head stone was included in the tour price.”

Barbara Bogroll: “These guys really wrestle with danger. I got two broken legs before even leaving their booking office!”

After Tekapo we travelled to Mount Cook Village to reunite with our comrade.

Fully laiden backpackers

Before he arrived we went to the visitors centre. I was looking with morbid fascination through the commemorative book for all those the mountain has claimed. Most recently it took out a tour of people, but something seemed quite familiar.

“Hey Rosey, isn’t Alpine Recreation the people Lewis is with?”
“Er, yeah.”

Crikey. Lewis returned from his adventure full of stories (including the one above) having had an awesome time. Very jealous. From what I gather mountaineering is right up there with battery licking and chainsaw swallowing in the World’s most dangerous pursuits.

We did some more yomping around Mt Cook, going up to Sealy Tarns, Red Tarns and the Tasman Glacier. It’s all impressive, picturesque and you could spend all day taking photos.

Me

Lew and me on Mount Something Or Other.

Lewis and me at Red Tarns

Next is Queenstown – the self proclaimed adrenaline capital of the world, uh-oh…

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