Lake Tekapo Sunset

This was one of the most spectacular sunsets I have ever seen. I took the picture on the first night we were there at the far end of the lake. 

Lake Tekapo

I spent the weekend at Lake Tekapo with Texas Mike and Laura. As you can see the water is an incredbile blue, and looks even more blue when there isn't any wind on the water. We hiked to the far end of the Lake (30+ km) and camped out on some farm next to the lake. Although the weekend was a little unconventional (there wasn't a trail that went around the lake, so we had to make our own) it was still a great time. 

Abel Tasman National Park

It's been a while, but this is a picture from Abel Tasman a little more than a week old. The park was a combination of rainforest and golden beaches like those shown here. The whole trip was incredible; we did everything from sliding down cascades, jumping into waterfalls, swimming with seals, cliff diving, rugby on the sandflats at lowtide, and swimming out to islands to sunbath on the rocks. This one picture doesn't do the whole trip justice, so you'll just have to take my word for it.  

The Mill BBQ

Last night we had a get together of all the IES students at the Mill. We made Fajitas and had a great time. 

Devil's Punch Bowl

Here is Devil's Punch Bowl waterfall at Arthur's Pass. We made the hike to the base of the waterfall where the water was horizontal. We got soaked, but got some great views. 

Castle Hill

Over the weekend we went to Castle Hill which a huge boulder field. We spent the afternoon hiking around and climbing through the boulders. To give you an idea of the size, look at Ryan in towards the bottom left of the picture. 

I'm here!

I finally arrived in Christchurch! This is a view from my appartment. You can see the mountains in the distance on the right. Those mountains extend into the Pacific. As you can see the architecture is very european with low lying buildings. The flight was long but it was worth it. Tomorrow I'll be going to a New Zealand Farm, take a Unimog tour of Torless Station (a vast 10,000 acre sheep station. One of Canterbury's famous high country stations, this region is rugged and isolated and full of colourful history.) <-- Got that from a website. On Sunday we'll be taking a Jet Boat ride, take a trip to Arthurs Pass and take a TranzAlpine train back to Christchurch.