It was the Church of the Good Shepherd, and I can attest to why it is one of the most photographed churches in New Zealand. It wasn't the building's architecture that was necessarily special; it was its location & its peacefulness. The small stone church sat quietly on top of a bright green hill overlooking the beauty of the lake and the mountains. Apparently, it is one of the most popular locations to get married. It was truly stunning. After spending a few minutes in the church, we went back outside & walked across some big rocks toward the lakeside. The scene in front of us, the bright turquoise lake surrounded by some New Zealand mountains, was mesmerizing. All was silent around us, and the peacefulness just sitting on those rocks looking out over the lake was indescribable. We stayed there for a long time, just sitting in silence. However, many people before us had left behind little rock statues that they had made, and John & Arash didn't want to miss out on doing the same. =) They each made a commendable rock statue while Sontsa & I sat closeby giving moral support.
The boys also started in on some stone skipping. It was quite fun to just sit there, relax, and watch the guys skipping stones for a while. I eventually gave it a shot too, even though it had been years since I had done it. After John gave me a quick lesson review, I stepped into stone-skipping stance & did some pretty decent throwing. Then, I somehow just got progressively worse. Good times though =) The next task for the guys came when Sontsa suggested they try to hit this particular rock that was jutting out from the water. Our Canadians gladly took on the challenge. However, it became a bit comical after it turned out to be much more difficult than they expected; solid effort though. As we walked back toward the hostel from the lake, tiredness hit us--naps were in order! Sontsa, John & I napped in the dorm room for a few hours, while Arash opted to take his towel & lay out in the sun by the lakeshore. He apparently finished his nap before us, came back to the room, saw we were all still sleeping, and decided to take a second nap in the room haha.
After we all woke back up, it was closer to dinner time. Arash started cooking another delectable gourmet meal for everyone, which he would never let us help him with (not that we would have been that much help anyway). While he was busy cooking, John & I played some cards and Sontsa did some reading. Plus, the hostel had two young cats that were quite playful, so we entertained them as well. Later that night, we all enjoyed yet another awesome dinner & then it was time to pack all of our backpacks to leave the next morning. Sontsa & I packed our bags first, then we just sat back in the room and watched the guys pack theirs. This was much more amusing than you might think. They were both catching flights the next day from Christchurch--John to NZ's north island & Arash to Malaysia. So, they had to completely go through their bags inside & out. As a result, they had stuff all over the floor. Plus, Arash kept pulling out the most random items from his bag; Sontsa & I couldn't stop laughing. I think he had enough over-the-counter medicines, including a lifetime supply of pain-relievers, to open up his own pharmacy haha. We spent the rest of the evening sharing our photos with one another from Oamaru, Mount Cook & Lake Tekapo. Also, John showed me tons of pictures he'd taken over the past year from living in Australia. It was exciting to see photos of all the places I'll be visiting in just a couple of months from now =)
The next day, John cooked us some tasty eggs on toast for breakfast. Then, we were back on the road again & heading toward Christchurch. Once we got there, we quickly realized it was much bigger than we had expected. It is actually New Zealand's second largest city. We parked the car and walked around the city centre for about 30 minutes. The damage from the 6.3 magnitude earthquake that struck Christchurch almost 3 months prior was still clearly evident. Many buildings were in shambles, some roads were blocked off, the cathedral was a wreck, and there were handmade signs along fencelines in which angry locals were pleading for a rebuilding effort to begin. My heart went out to them. After getting back to the car, we all grabbed some quick lunch at Subway before it was time to move on. Then, Sontsa & I said goodbye to our Canadian travel buddies, as they had to go to the airport to turn in the rental car & catch their flights, and we were scheduled to make our way to the last stop on our New Zealand travel agenda: Kaikoura!
Cheers,
Ash
No comments:
Post a Comment