Banks Peninsula and onward

I had read about this area just south of Christchurch, and when I started digging in, I was mesmerized by the beautiful pictures from there. This was our first peek -

As we kept on driving, we continued to pass smoothly rounded hills…

… and beautiful bays -

The scenery almost looked fake, and my pictures sometimes looked like a painting.

Luckily we had gorgeous weather for the day we drove the Summit Road…

… a narrow, curvy road through the hills around the main bay and the town of Akaroa, where we stayed.

These 2 days were nice and laid back, as there really isn’t a lot to do here, beyond walking along the waterfront admiring the boats…

… and the birds…

(a Variable Oystercatcher above and a South Island Pied Oystercatcher below) -

I know most of you aren’t as interested in birds as I am, but I thought the color variations were kinda neat.

The other activity in town is to check out the lighthouse (that was moved from a distant and inaccessible point, to one that was closer to town — for tourism).

As lighthouses go, we weren’t too impressed.

We left Akaroa to drive 4+ hours to Aoraki/Mt. Cook National Park (which will be a post all by itself). On the way we passed the gorgeous Lake Tekapo…

… with its unworldly colors -

We hiked up Mount John along the edge of the lake, and were treated to awesome vistas of the Southern Alps on one side…

… and turquoise hued Lake Tekapo on the other -

(no filter was used for this photo; it really was this brilliant)

I’ll leave you now, to ready my next post on my favorite area in New Zealand so far. Stay tuned!