mountain masala

queenstown to lake tekapo to home

we got back from our two week trip last night. there was snow overnight on Friday night, so the skylift above queenstown was all white. we changed plans and decided to drive to the snowfields at coronet peak after all. heaps of traffic going up the hill, so we stopped 2/3 of the way up so that maddy could throw snowballs at us... clear sky, little wind. fabulous weather.

we stopped at the bottom of the mountain for maddy and i to ride the shotovoer jet - a 6 km jetboat ride up and down the shotover river above queenstown. this was not cheap, but was seriously the best ride of my life - like the star wars' canyon race but on water! absolutely freezing.

wanaka to queenstown

cold night, sleep in again, left at 10 am. apparently the weather was going to be rainy and showery. instead we have blue sky and some clouds and no wind at all. spent 1/2 hour down by the lake, taking photos to the north, apparently the backdrop for Gandalf's flight to Rohan with Gwaihir after his rescue from Orthanc (thats what the book says... I'll have to watch the movie or read the book again - aside, I wrote my year 12 book review on 'the lord of the rings' - had no real appreciation of it, let alone an appetite for cultural tourism!). anyway, HUGE salmon and eels swimming below the jetty.

from fox glacier to lake wanaka

we're near the end of our trip and the vast snow peaks and crystal blue lakes are starting to blur together.

yesterday we drove from fox glacier to lake wanaka, after a short drive (6 km) to lake matheson and a 20 minute walk to another stunning lake and view (and more photos of leaves and moss!). the forecast was rain - some rain but lots of wind and a cloudy sky. lake matheson has a GREAT cafe and gift shop, so we bought some lovely stuff.

then a winding drive along the south-west coast towards haas for a veg soup lunch and petrol for $2.09 a litre! wild wind and rain, proper coastal weather. we passed a tiny township (a few houses, really) along a beach where lots of driftwood sticks and stones had been arranged, presumably by anyone and everyone, into shapes, figures, cairns, crosses,  etc etc. had the weather not be so foul we would have stopped at this wonderful, whimsical outdoor folk art gallery.

fab day at glaciers

the weather stayed clear as a bell all day yesterday. we got to franz josef glacier late morning after a slow start to the day. walked up to the sentinel lookout, a short work up at steep knob, but a long way from the glacier (unless we went on a 5 hour walk).

took about a 20 minute walk down to Peter's Pool for a stunning reflection of the glacier. highly recommended if you're ever here. the sun was streaming through the forest and ferns and I took a zillion photos of leaves! then about another 15 mins to Douglas Bridge, a suspension bridge over the river, and a similarly illuminated walk back through more forest to the road and then the car park.

then followed some tacky souvenir shopping in the village and a sandwich lunch. we got to fox glacier just after 3 o'clock. Wow! the drive in is amazing. a wide river bed, mainly stones but still plenty of water flowing. on the right a sheer black cliffs a few hundred feet tall, on the left steep, green rock faces, just as tall, with waterfalls running down them. it was all very 'lord of the rings' - you could imagine riders on horseback and orcs etc etc.

crossing the south island

on monday we drove across the south island of NZ. we woke to rain and a gale in christchurch, drove down to the water and couldn't see a thing.  we learned later that rough seas had sunk 4 boats on the east coast. 

so we headed west under a gloomy sky, and when we finally saw the mountains they were topped with clouds. nevertheless, a stunning drive passing massive snow-capped peaks and deep valleys, green fields turning to brown, wide pebbled river beds with streams running through them (no doubt raging in spring). stopped at castle hill, which is apparently where one of the narnia scenes was filmed.

our accommodation for the night was the bealey hotel, 7 kms east of arthur's pass. nice cabin with fridge, microwave and frypan, and this stunning view from our verandah.

48 hours film competition

i've just learned about the new zealand 48 hours film competition, in which people have 48 hours to produce a 4 to 7 minute film on a theme. one of the guys here screened an award-winning film that he produced.

sounds brilliant. here's the website where you can view past films.

being free, finding home

tonight peter majendie spoke about some of the art installation work that he and joyce and others have worked on at opawa, and steve received multiple mentions. i had seen some bits of this from mark pierson and heard stories from steve, so then meeting peter and hearing from him direct was wonderful - an interesting, funny, thoughtful, super-creative person. you have a sense of him having grown into this worship-artist role rather recently, so his candour is quite engaging.

peter and joyce led worship tonight - based on romans 12 and some worship that had apparently been done at opawa at some stage. a stunning centrepiece of small, painted, balsa wood houses lit with fairy lights, with a fabric canopy overhead hung with strips of magnetic audio cassette tape. it looked much better in the dark, but hard to capture on my crap camera. a brilliant focus from which I'll be borrowing ideas. the theme was mainly about finding freedom, and home being a kind of focus for that. (i had cinematic orchestra's "home" song playin in my head all night)

several stations that people could visit at will, while a range of music played (coldplay, travis, and some really nice stuff that i'll have to ask about. btw sufjan stevens got serious airplay yesterday. i'd like to claim early discovery, but then i did that with keith green too...) interspersed with prayers and poems (leunig,  john o'donohue...). an intro from peter, later an explanation of his painting piece, and a brief benediction.

the first follower

i'm sitting at the "just worship" conference in christchurch. this morning we've had input from a number of people about their creative worship and spiritual installation type stuff - dave white from hamilton talking about their easter stations. this is an extraordinary annual event (a break in 2010) which now attracts over 3000. artists from the community are invited to work communally to create the stations.

dave and co. also host a christmas tree event which i've blogged about previously. this is a fantasrtic example of getting the whole community involved in creating art.

cheryl talked about her work and the kinds of worship and events that she has run and been involved in. i enjoy hearing her speak about what she does as she always articulates questions that are worth asking and provokes deep reflection.

north island - day 7

we awoke to this view of wellington from the copthorne hotel balcony. spent the morning and part of the afternoon at Te Papa, the national museum. such a treasure, and admission is free. apart from the many wonderful exhibits that I'd seen on a previous visit, some new highlights were the giant squid (real, dead, huge... and you should see the stuffed squid toy at the museum shop!), a fantastic interactive media wall where people can search for photos and movies or take their own portraits then add and manipulate them - plus the exhibition of contemporary art from the Venice Biennale. 

north island - day 6

this morning we wandered around napier and then drove up the bluff for the stunning views, which made the trip down there worthwhile. a wander around town and the beach (no sand, all black pebbles).

left early afternoon to drive down to wellington via some "lord of the rings" sites. we took the inland route which was fantastic - remarkable countryside. maddy saw a hillside covered with so many hills that "the looked like maggots" (quote...) the sunshine turned to rain along the way.