Journals #13 and #14: Christchurch
3/13-3/14
Cover Photo: “It’s Just Me, Myself, & I”
Sheep Spotted: ~200
“Tequila has a bad reputation for giving you a bad reputation”- Waiter @“Mexico” Restaurant in Christchurch
A multi-day blog entry!? I know- it’s madness. I really did intend on writing a blog last night from Lake Tekapo (Tee-Kah-Poh), but because I’m crazy, I decided to see if I could “wait out” this big rainstorm that rolled through and (intentionally) woke up at 1am, 3am, and finally 5am to see if it had cleared.
You see- Lake Tekapo is famous for being one of the best spots to see the stars in New Zealand if not the world- you can see an example (from a luckier photographer) here: http://tinyurl.com/TekapoStars
I had this whole master plan worked out too- I went earlier in the day (before it started raining) and mentally marked all of my shooting spots so that I could move quickly at night; however, it was all for naught, as not were there no stars, but there was also no sunset or sunrise due to the clouds.
Today’s photo is one of the best ones I could get with the weather- this is the famous Church of the Good Shepherd, which sits right on the edge of the lake. It was pouring rain when I took this (thank god for my lens hood + large apertures), but on the plus side I was the only one out there.
During the day there are at least 75+ people at the Church at all times – Huge tour buses will roll up, everybody will get off, crowd the place, and then leave. This cycle will repeat 5-6 times per hour. During the rain though- no tour buses ☺!
Here are a few other shots (quick note: sometimes like today I have time to process multiple photos before posting the blog; however, on days were I don’t I post the rest throughout the day on my instagram: @TheMorganBurke).
This afternoon I drove back to Christchurch (approx. 3 hour drive) and had dinner at “Mexico” which is a popular restaurant here. Interestingly enough, my waiter was French (or in other words, a French waiter serving Mexican food in Southern New Zealand) and I overhead him pitching tequila to a group of people with the quote at the top of the blog.
For me he recommended a beer to tasteless I won’t even include it in today’s beer reviews (I believe it was called ‘Cartel’ and the bartender seemed embarrassed to be serving it- like the butler in Mr. Deeds, he very sneakily drop it on the corner of my table and disappeared before I noticed). (Scene in Mr. Deeds for those of you unfamiliar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_O_2CSL_RY )
Speaking of which- here are the beer reviews from the best few days:
1) Monteith Radler Bier: Truly bizarre tasting- almost like a light champagne. I literally don’t think I’ve ever tasted anything like it. I give it a positive review on the basis that it should be tried, but probably not drank all night.
2) Monteith IPA: I bought a 6-pack of this since you can’t find it on draft anywhere. Like all IPAs here, it is the equivalent of an American Session Ale at around 5.5%. Mildly sweet, but not much hoppy flavor. I need to find a double IPA fast, or I’m going to start having Hop withdrawal.
Tomorrow I’ll be doing the first (of 3!) Lord of the Rings tours. This one will cover the plains of Rohan (from the 2nd Lord of the Rings film, The Two Towers) so it should be fairly epic!
-MB
