Back to Christchurch to head to the North Island of NZ

An early morning departure from Queenstown to board a coach that will take me back to Christchurch.  I need to digress a moment since I was thinking about this today....after you are away from the United States you begin to pick up the local language and adopt it into your own vocabulary.  Examples of this would be....coach for bus....Take away for carry out....Mobile phone for Cell phone....lift for elevator....overhead lockers for overhead bins....In the Que for in line....brochure for pamphlet....I will provide more as the journey and I go from one country to another.

The striking thing about today was the change in topography.  It began with lush mountains and vineyards and the came the rugged Kawarau Gorge and finally into the Canterbury plains....first the lush mountains...

The plastic netting in the first of the two photos above shows how growers protect their crop.  This netting was used for cherries to prevent the birds from taking the crop.  The second picture is very representative of the many vineyards.

As we progress North the Gorge area is pictured and the changes to the terrain....

It is time to get one last look at Mt. Cook as we continue on our journey today....it had a lot of cloud cover today and was not cooperating for the photographer....

Then next the Canterbury plains....this is also a very agricultural area since it is fairly flat.  So back to sheep and cattle....

A number of the farms in this region utilize trees to form a hedge and it is probably 20 feet high and trimmed...very effective use of nature's resources....

This bridge is located 20 miles or so outside of Christchurch...and is the longest within New Zealand.  Today the winds were torrential (note the sand blowing across the road in the picture) and crossing the bridge was a challenge for any driver.....

Okay....that was today.  Tonight I am in Christchurch....2nd largest city in New Zealand.  The population in the South Island (area wise about the size of California) is close to 1 million.  Christchurch has a population of 350,000....so one can see how dense the population is in the remainder of South Islands of New Zealand.

Another early start tomorrow to take the train from Christchurch to Picton...the the ferry to Wellington to being my tour of the North Island.....