Christchurch, New Zealand 2/3/2018

The pretty color of the water comes from the minerals of the Southern Alps near Aukland, NZ. 

This is near where the Lord of the Rings movies were shot. Sadly, it was not a clear day and the top 1/4 to 1/3 of the mountains were hidden by the clouds.  

We traveled through the Canterbury Plains.  This area had underground rivers that are tapped into for irrigation.   We saw cows and sheep grazing along the way.  An export  that is steadily increasing for N.Z. is powdered milk to China.  The sheep raised for eating graze in the plains.  Sheep raised for wool live in the foothills.  Sheep are being bred now that can reproduce in one year.  

There was a collection of little summer homes near Lake Camp.  The homes do not have electricity, no cell service, or cable.  No-one stays in the winter.  It is glorified camping.  This is definitely a "get-a-way" location.  

The man on the left is Gerald.  He helped me choose my shore excursions.  He is killing one of the bartenders from our ship.  Good actors.  

FACEBOOK  Christchurch, New Zealand is a place where earthquakes occur every day.  There are strict building standards.  No building can be over seven stories high.  There is no construction allowed on swampland as it quivers like jello during an earthquake.  Houses are built on concrete pilings and there are other innovations being tried to help buildings sway and survive an earthquake.

Today's tour was not exactly what I expected.  I thought we were to experience the Southern Alps, but we only saw them in the distance.   Being cloudy, the top 1/3 of the Alps was shrouded.  This area we visited was used for shooting the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

It was a long but interesting drive through the farmland of the Canterbury Plains.  We passed pigs, alpacas, sheep and cows grazing along the way.  Dairy production has increased due to the demand for powdered milk in China.  Sheep that graze in the plains are raised to be eaten and those that graze in the foothills are for Merino wool.  There were many pretty views along the way.

The rivers and lakes that we passed were an incredible shade of blue green because of the minerals washing down from the Alps.  We stopped for one of our breaks at Lake Clearwater.  There are 196 summer Holiday Homes with no electricity or cell service.  They were cute little houses, but it seemed to be a lot like camping.  Lake Clearwater would definitely be an escape "the rat race".