Catching up - part 2 (The Two Towers)

Christchurch is the gateway to New Zealand's Southern Alps.  Because we were anxious to get out into the countryside and see some scenery, we booked a Lord of the Rings themed excursion.  The promotional picture shows snow capped mountains, a crystal blue river, and lush greenery.  The picture was probably taken in the winter.  It's summertime now.

The bus wove its way through Christchurch, the city of orange cones.  Since the earthquake of  2011, in which 185 were killed and thousands injured, the city has been rebuilding.  Although I couldn't figure out their purpose, orange cones line all the roads.

Outside of Christchurch are the Canterbury Plains, acres and acres of planted fields and dairy grazing lands for as far as I could see.  Not a sign of "the Alps."  Stopped for tea and scones at Salmon World.  Really good scones, chock full of cranberries.  This is proving to be a long bus ride and still not even a foothill.

Next stop at a little lake community.  This is in the middle of nowhere.  No apparent reason why anyone would want to vacation here.  The highlight, besides the scones, was our bus being mooned by a young man on the dock as we departed the area.  Oh look, mountains-not green or snow capped, though.

Finally we reach our destination, Mount Sunday.  That's Edoras, capital city of Rohan (for you Lord of the Rings geeks.)

Edoras, capital city of Rohan

Galadriel, Lady of the Wood

Aragorn, heir of Isildur

Well, that was pretty hokey.  Now for a long bus ride back to the ship.  The guide played some Lord of the Rings videos, outtakes and interviews.  It helped to make the time pass.  We stopped for a lunch catered at the War Memorial by some residents of Mt. Somers.  I'm assuming that this is a regular gig for them, serving lunch to tour groups in order to maintain the memorial.

I'm not complaining.  We're still having a good time, but our time could have been spent better touring Christchurch on our own.