Porter Col

Fairlie, Canterbury, New Zealand
Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Tuesday 26 November

It has been a day on the road, with an amazing variety of ever changing scenery and some interesting stops, before arriving at Aoraki or Mt Cook Village in the late afternoon. We left behind the Banks Peninsula and worked our way south down SH1 stopping in Ashburton for a quick look, bearing in mind that there is a delightful identically named small town in Devon and we wanted to compare. Sorry NZ, Devon wins hands down this time. Lunchtime saw us approaching the farming community of Geraldine, which of course we could not pass. There were some weird looks from passing motorists as we took the uploaded photo of our Geraldine, who is definitely the more decorative of the two. Having said that, it is a charming small farming hub serving the surrounding community and we liked it. We had lunch in a farmers market cafe and shop. The soup was homemade and wholesome and Reg enjoyed having a wander round comparing produce. I think the result was price high, quality poor, which only confirmed what he had already heard, that first quality goes for export, but the New Zealanders still have to pay top prices for second quality. There were lots of opportunities to view farms as we tracked across the Canterbury Plains. Isolation was the word that struck me. It is normal I gather, but seems more extreme than in the UK.
Turning off onto SH8 the scenery became more rugged as we headed towards the Mt Cook National Park. The road climbs through Burkes Pass on to a high plateau called the MacKenzie Basin and the surroundings become ever more spectacular. As G&R exclaimed, nothing can really prepare you for such a sumptuous vista and it just went on and on. We stopped at Lake Tekapo to view the pretty stone Church of the Good Shepherd, dedicated to the many shepherds working on the sheep stations around the area. It is a simple but beautiful building, with a strong sense of tranquility. Behind the altar is a panoramic window and the congregation look out on the brilliant turquoise waters of the lake and the mountains framing it. A God given spot if ever I saw one. For miles around on either side of the state highway are masses of wild lupins and they are also growing in front of the church beside the lake. Just now they are in full bloom and a magnificent sight. Their spicy scent flavours the air and apparently they arrived via an English settler in the 1850s, who wished to have a memory of his garden at home, so he scattered lupin seeds and they have multiplied and spread. After much oohing and ahing we moved on to Lake Pukaki, which is just as turquoise and even larger. On a clear day Mt Cook is silhouetted at the far end, but sadly the cloud was down and only the bottom third visible, but hey no you can't be lucky all the time. A postcard may have to suffice. Approaching the village along one side of the lake, we had to stop at Peter's lookout, for yet another photo shoot. Reg and I are wondering when we will get ours - some hope!! We had dinner this evening at the Hermitage Hotel and the dining room is perfectly placed for an unsurpassed Mountain view, providing there is no cloud! We did have one unexpected treat however. During dinner a kea (large green mountain parrot) bounced up to to the window by our table looking hopeful. Guests are forbidden to feed them, but it was a great end to the day. I have heard so much about them, but never expected to bump into one in the flesh so to speak. I'll keep my fingers crossed for a quick glimpse of Mt Cook tomorrow, but am not hopeful, the forecast looks more of the same. Perhaps the Good Shepherd will look after us.Read more