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Thurs 13 Nov 2014
On the road again - today we head to Omarama but via some of the most beautiful scenery in the world - Canterbury Plain & Mt Cook National Park.
Canterbury Plain is a basin between the eastern ranges and the alpine ranges. The main industries in this area includes dairy & sheep.
Two hours from Christchurch we stopped at Geraldine for morning tea. Geraldine is home to artists and artisans and many of these people have their work on sale in the town itself or from nearby studios.
Onward to Lake Tekapo for lunch and an optional plane ride over the Southern Alps. The lake is surrounded by snow-capped mountains.
We decided to take the flight as it is billed as a 'once in a life-time opportunity' to experience the grandeur of the Alps. And we weren't disappointed! The weather cleared to a mostly fine & sunny day following overnight snowfall approx 3 inches that carpeted the mountain tops & upper slopes. The pilot was able to get very close to the major formations including Mt Cook, Tasman Glacier, Murcheson Glacier & Mt John. The flight was an absolute must do to gain an appreciation of the height of the mountains and their width & and length.
We then visited the Sir Edmund Hillary Centre, a tribute to New Zealand's famous mountaineer who together with Sherpa Tenzing was the first person to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
Then a short drive to Omarama for our overnight stop- over.
Today's temperature: Min 4 (Christchurch) Max 17 (Mt Cook)
Today's insights:
The Southern Alps are 240 klm wide and 600 klm long. Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand at a height of 3,724 metres (12,218 ft).
There are approximately 500,000 Red Deer farmed in New Zealand primarily for meat (venison) & velvet from the horns.
About 100,000 New Zealanders volunteered for WW1 - about 10% of the total population. Approx. 16,000 were killed.
New Zealand sent 10,000 horses to the war stocks and served in Germany, Samoa, Gallipoli, Middle East & the Westen Front. Of these on 4 returned home - Beauty, Bess, Dolly & ******. These 4 horses all belonged to officers in the New Zealand Army.
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