25 July 2011

Stuck in Christchurch

I was supposed to be travelling north from Christchurch this morning to catch the ferry back to the North Island. This is why I'm still here.

All going well, I'll be heading back tomorrow afternoon.

[25 July 2011, Panasonic Lumix GH1, 14–45 mm at 18 mm, ISO 400, 1/25 at f5.6]

All content © 2011 Pete McGregor

11 comments:

  1. I am utterly envious. So beautiful.

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  2. I feel deprived. In Palmy you can see a little sprinkling below the heavy clouds on some of the higher ranges. But it hasn't even rained much in the last 22 hours let alone snowed!

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  3. As someone put it in an email to National Radio this morning: "The icing on the quake."

    It was so beautiful. Now it's slush. Good luck for your travelling tomorrow.

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  4. Zhoen, it was beautiful. But, as Lesley says, it's now slush — well, almost. With luck that means we'll make it north tomorrow.

    Kiwi Nomad, don't speak too soon! The snow might still be on its way (with me following).

    Thanks Lesley. Sorry I couldn't get to visit — the extra time wasn't much good for travelling (other than a short walk to the shop). Good luck to you too, for coping with what Christchurch seems to be dealing out. I admire your resilience :^)

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  5. No matter that my brain knows that winter and summer exist simultaneously on this globe, it still amazes me to see scenes like this when I've just experienced 98 degrees (F) in the shade! Sorry you were delayed, but hope you threw at least a few snowballs, wink, wink.

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  6. I give a test to my clients with aphasia to assess their language functioning. One subtest measures yes/no comprehension. Is your name George? No. Is your name Pete? Yes. Does it snow in July? Uhh. Yes. No. Depends where you live! I may have to replace this question.

    As an personal aside, this also shows me how narrow our perception can get. Sometimes just the world in front of our eyes. Sometimes not even that far!

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  7. Barbara, in a week's time I'll be going from this to the Equator. Fortunately, Quito's at altitude, but I imagine the contrast will still take some getting used to. No snowballs thrown, but my brother did make a wonderful snowbear (Winnie the Pooh).

    Michael, I agree — sometimes I forget how much of the world is dissimilar to what's around me. One of the benefits of travelling, I guess: making diversity more real, more immediate, more personal.

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  8. As Barbara says, no matter what I know about the seasons and the hemispheres, to see snow there while we're roasting in the 90s here just doesn't make any sense.

    My in-laws just returned from a five week visit to South America. They live in Kauai, so the chilly temps at high altitude took a bit getting used to. Looks like you're ready for it.

    Safe and excellent journey to you. I'm already looking forward to your pics.

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  9. Thanks Robin. I have to prepare for extremes of weather — the high Andes and Patagonia will probably be at least as cold as Christchurch was, and the Amazon's not known for snow... ;^) But at least I'll be starting in Quito, where the combination of altitude and latitude means I should avoid those kinds of extremes.

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  10. Beautiful. I expect to see the White Witch or Aslan coming down the path!

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  11. HHnB — no, that's my younger brother on the far side of the bridge ;^) We were on our way back from grocery shopping and the snow had started falling again. Saw no cat footprints; no witch footprints, either, although we did pass by a very sinister-looking little snowman.

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Constructive criticism is welcomed (I particularly appreciate thoughts on what you like and don't like), but please keep it courteous.