Stream Team Ventures on the Ice: My day off around Christchurch

22nd Oct 10'
Well our flight to the ice was delayed and then grounded till tomorrow due to weather. Hopefully we fly tomorrow or else we will have to wait until tuesday with a whole bunch of other people from Delaware...EWWW... Now on my day off I am heading to the mountain Gondola and maybe Mountain bike down. The bus system is cheap, reliable, and extremely easy!

I'd say about 200 steps. Its a long way down, or up.

As I sit on Cressy bench, I am not surprised at my insurmountable stupidity when it comes to buses. As I was writing about the ease of travel on the NZ bus system, I failed to press the big red stop button to my right. I pushed it just as we were pushing away from the gondola and the next stop happend to be over two miles away through a tunnel for the majority of it to a town called lyttleton. Ha way cooler than Colorado's Littleton. So I decided from there instead of backtracking through the tunnel, to just walk uphill. Steep driveways and staris led me to a path laid with traps for some kind of TB Vector?

Uhhh.....???

Anywho I am half way to the summit now on cressy bench overlooking the beautiful Glacier colored bay and banks penninsula. Sheep abound and roosters crow here. If only there were some hairy ped'd hobbits rummaging about.

Cressy Bench

Through sheep and jungle, rock and wile. Getting 550 m to the top was quite brethless as I am at sea level. Walking to this giant sentry on top was quite dissapointing. After talking to a german living here for a while and harassing local sheep I made it to a den of finacial gain. The gondola wreaks of bad vibrations and eerie fried smells. I am now going to eat my panini and pilsner and quickly be on my way back.

Well I walked downstairs and they had a time machine! well you get on a mobile electric cart that takes you through a track from 12 million years ago. It starts off with volcanoes and quickly progresses to settlers conquering the ocean and nature to finally call this place home. No mind however to the native Maori. They are just peasants anyway. All the while being guided by an annoyingly precocious little girl with bad teeth. But by the power of God alone did her great grandparents conquer their self proclaimed home and burned down all the trees for grazing area. The vast grassy fields you see weren't always known as the Canterburry plains you know.

It just occurred to me that I forgot to mention what that German had told me. After retriring from the merchant navy travelling long stretches to reach foreign destinations he settled here in NZ. He spoke of his boredom. As if being on the ocean for months at a time isn't boring enough. At 70 years old he was very fit. But that is due to his boredom. He said he hikes from christchurch over the big hill 500 m high and steep to lyttleton then back up the hill and down to home 2-3 times a week. This hike probably takes him 2-3 hours and he stated that it doesn't near satiate his boredom. Gardening helps but there are only so many hours a week one can spend in the dirt. Maybe thats why we love our prime time TV to hinder our sub conscious boredom. Here are some pics...