That's it Mel !! A world famous tree!!

Five star photos!!! What a lovely place to be.

xyz99, the DOC website :

https://www.doc.govt.nz/hooker-valley-track

dropdown box in red has updates

BTW- our pace has been slow and relaxed, you asked on your planning thread about allocation of days, you could do our Punakaiki sights in a full day, we just took our time

Hambagahle, now I recall reading about that, funny how lone trees get so much attention amongst so many wonderful trees.

Thank you, that's a great web site with lots of good info. I'm sure I'll use it extensively for planning.

Strange isn't it. That tree seems to be more famous than the Chastè peninsula... I am getting really frustrated with your commentary and photos, Adelaidean. Frustrated in that I will not be able to visit NZ and see all this beauty for myself. The scenery is "drop dead gorgeous".

Wot Ham said...
(kicks trash bin across room)

Not much to add now - final day in Christchurch.

Day 25: Aoraki Mt Cook to Christchurch travel day

Allowed 6 hours for this trip

Brilliant sunshine and blue sky in Mt Cook village - such a surprise to turn out of the village to low cloud and gloom, so Lake Pukaki was not glistening blue.


Leaving Mt Cook


So much for a scenic drive…



In and out of fog


Thick fog much of the journey. The wall of fog lifted at Lake Tekapo, so stretched legs there to view the lovely lake:

Turquoise lakes https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/im...akes-turquoise


Then back into heavy fog and continued on to Fairlie for a pie at the very busy bakery.

Geraldine was a surprise, a really nice looking town.


Day 26: Christchurch

Last day wandering the city, the river, Botanic Garden, lunch at the Curators house in the gardens, the arts centre, dinner at Fiddlesticks.














intelligent redesign as part of the city reconstruction..wide footpaths/ cyclist paths, lovely riverside access


Art on walls covering building sites


some historic buildings restored or undamaged










The arts centre, part of the group of repurposed heritage buildings

Adelaidean, what type of car did you rent? Did you need (or would you recommend) an RV? Or would a regular sedan be fine?
I've read that there are some restrictions regarding driving on gravel roads. What was your experience, how common are those gravel roads? Thanks.

xyz99, we hired a Mitsubishi crew cab with canopy, mainly because that’s the type of vehicle DH bought from his work when he retired. It was 4WD and diesel (efficient, cheaper to refuel)
For me, was too big, I didn’t want to drive it/ park it.
We are not RV travellers, so that was never an option for us. Lots of RVs on the road so it is a popular choice.
On reflection, he says a Mitsubishi SUV would be a good compromise, not too small that there’s poor visibility with RVs ahead of you, easier to park.
Many lookouts on the road, and they can be a tight squeeze with all the campervans, so a smaller car is easier. Plus, the carparking at trailheads can be limited and you might need to park roadside.

There are a few gravel roads that rental agency had on their ‘do not take vehicle on this road’ list.
We only drove a few gravel roads, with the typical corrugations you get on this type of road (I used to live in the outback). We stuck to the typical tourist route mostly.

We hired from Apex in Christchurch. Good to deal with, they were recommended by a friend who used them in their 8 trips.
And there’s a shuttle to and from airport to their office.
Actually, we dropped car off quite early and shuttle driver suggested Antarctic Centre to pass some time, so he drove is there instead of airport. Great decision. Awesome displays, they hold the bags, a good 2-3 hour visit, then a 5 min walk to airport.

This was quite a relaxing and slow pace of trip, our itinerary could be cut to 2 weeks but we needed a ‘holiday’ this time. And I do like to adjust to the weather, so that played its part, too. Having extra time allowed for that.

Good luck with your planning.

Thank you. We'll start and end in Christchurch, and Apex is one of the companies on my list. It seems that most cars are automatic, and I don't need to worry about manual transmission, right?
You had a wonderful trip, and I took a lot of notes, thanks again!