After nearly two weeks on the road, it was time for our last few stops in this amazing country. Our glacier high carried us to Arthur's Pass, where we'd spend a night at the Wilderness Lodge and have one of our best meals thus far. Seriously, for having low culinary expectations (we anticipated something England-y - generic with lots of mayo), NZ knocked it out of the park! Fresh fish and vegetables, beautiful presentation... it's been a delight. Katie could print an entire photo series of food; here's a taste.
Alas, it was time for our last bit o' mountain highway as we headed back to Christchurch. We made time for a short stop at Castle Hill, which the Dalai Lama dubbed a "Spiritual Center of the Universe" when he visited in 2002. It was quite impressive - the massive rocks are remnants of limestone left from 30-40 million years ago, when most of present-day New Zealand was covered by sea.
New Zealand has a fascinating history. We (er, Katie will just speak for herself) wasn't familiar with the supercontinent of Gondwana that formed much of our continental landmass, including South America, Africa, India, Australia, and New Zealand. New Zealand separated between 100 and 85 million years ago, forming the Tasman Sea and creating a separate landmass that took 30 million years to reach its present width!
And if that doesn't excite you, the town of Franz Josef (where we visited the glacier) sits on the Alpine Fault line where Pacific and Australian plates meet, causing earthquakes at regular intervals. The mean interval between large earthquakes is 330 years, and the last one was in 1717. Soooo, let's just say we're thankful we missed that one. There's a great article about New Zealand's geological history here.
On we went to Christchurch, where we checked into the lovely Hotel Montreal (second French establishment on our honeymoon, naturally) and Blair learned that there was a Rugby League World Cup quarterfinal in town that evening. We got last minute tickets and prepped with Pimm's Cups and a few rounds of croquet in our backyard court (lawn?).
Pimm's and Croquet @ Hotel Montreal, Christchurch
#RLWC17: Tonga vs. Lebanon. Tonga had upset New Zealand in the previous match and was by far the favorite. We flooded the stadium into a sea of red and watched with excitement as the match heated up. Katie attempted to provide commentary from her BC days, but the play didn't look familiar - there were no scrums following a tackle, nor line-outs. While we initially chalked it up to her age :), we learned that Rugby Union and Rugby League follow two different sets of rules; Rugby League is designed for a faster pace of play, and omits much of the scrum play to keep the ball moving.
Tonga was victorious (yay for the home team!), even though Lebanon got the short end of a few calls.
Rugby League World Cup 2017 - Quarterfinal: Tonga vs. Lebanon
The following morning, we packed up and readied ourselves for a wine tour, our last activity before the flight that evening. We'd hired a driver to take us to four wineries in the Waipara region an hour north of Christchurch. John was incredibly friendly, and we had great conversation between stops for Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc. Our tour concluded with a stop at Pegasus Bay winery, where we sipped espresso drinks on bean bag chairs overlooking a pond, soaking in the sunshine and preparing for the close to Honeymoon, Part I. We could hardly believe there was more to come, and yet, Kauai awaited us!
Terrace Edge Winery, Waipara Region