Today’s the day the teddy bear had his picnic...

Among other things!
We’re in Mckenzie Country – not the clan, but named after a certain James Mckenzie, who was caught “in the company of” over 1000 rustled sheep! He had come by them with the aid of his collie, Friday. This is very much sheep country, with huge ranges up here as the land is not particularly good at grass growing, being so high up. They are run with sheep dogs (and quad bikes!) but until recently the sheep dog has been an essential tool. So much so that they have erected a monument in tribute to the collie and it’s amazing abilities with sheep.
So, Mt John...the Observatory of Canterbury Uni, a very nice cafe, and uninterrupted 360⁰ views of the most amazing mountains we’ve ever seen. I was privileged to see mountains in Switzerland and Austria as a teenager, and have walked (slogged!) my way up many a Scottish glen. But I have never seen anything as beautiful as this. Beauty in God’s creation doesn’t usually reduce me to tears, but this did. The grandeur, the sheer scale of these ranges left me utterly speechless (and that doesn’t happen very often!)
Philias was getting a bit fidgety. He was in just his sort of country but was stuck in the rucksack. He decided to revolt and wanted to be fully part of the action. First he demanded a leg stretch on Mt John to look at the interpretation board about the wildlife in the area, then he went stomping off to have his picnic following the peninsular circular walk so that he wouldn’t get lost or left behind. When we finally caught up with him he was just about to consume his, and our, food! Bears! Wot will you do with them?
We carried on eating and there he was.... gawn! Where did we find him? Like most small boys, half way up a tree. Bears are really good climbers as can be seen from the picture taken 710m above sea level.
We were today seriously in wow overload mode. Mt Cook cleared during the afternoon and the camera just had to come out again. Wot do you mean again! It’s never really been to bed since we got here! Was it 4100, or 4200 photos?
We saw the sad news that the fires are still raging in Dunedin area, and we think of all those volunteers that are trying to deal with it. Yes, that’s right, all the local fire services and ambulances are run by volunteers. St John Ambulance runs paramedic style ambulances everywhere, there being apparently no obvious state provision.
Today we met a Dutch couple of similar age to ourselves. This was their second visit to NZ, and this is the only place they have ever visited for a second time. Well, there’s a surprise, or not as the case may be!
I also met a young couple from Bromley, recently married, who were finishing their holiday after 3 weeks and going home tomorrow. They were really envious of our three months trip. They were cooking up all their food so that they didn’t have to throw any away. The red Thai curry smelt wonderful as I was cooking Cauliflower and broccoli cheese, with pesto, toasted pine nuts, hardboiled egg and couscous. I got a really strange look from a lady in the kitchen as I proceeded to make my own cheese sauce from scratch in a trangia pan.
We also met a family celebrating their son’s 30th birthday. They all had white t shirts with his picture on. And guess what? They came from Wisbech, a town we had visited last year on our East Anglian holiday. They were really surprised we knew of it, and even more about the fact that we had visited the Elwood Brewery. We are e-mailing them a picture I took as a joke!
So, tomorrow. We ‘re moving a short distance this time, a bit nearer Mt Cook. We have intended to stay a couple of nights at the Hermitage Hotel...but not at over £500 a night!!! We’re going to be camping about 50kms down the valley at Twizel and we’ll just drive up for the day.