Queenstown to Lake Tekapo to Christchurch

Sadly Doug and I had to leave the adrenaline capitol of New Zealand. Queenstown was spectacular but it was time to say goodbye. On the 30th we boarded the bus with our friends: Danielle, Khalid, Chloe, and Arian. Unfortunately we had to leave Becky and Emma behind because they were staying extra days. We ventured on to Lake Tekapo (or as I accidentally pronounced it...Lake "Take-ah-poo"). 

 

We weren't sure what to expect there but it actually turned out to be quite beautiful (I shouldn't have been surprised, I'm in New Zealand for Pete's sake!) Doug and I shared a bunk bed room with our four other friends at the hostel. After settling in, the two of us decided to go for a hike.

The first part of the hike was an incline straight to the top of the hill side. From there we had a spectacular view of the mountains and Lake Tekapo itself. Lake Tekapo is nothing like the lakes at home in Indiana. It is a bright turquoise blue and it is massive. 

When Doug and I finished our hike a few hours later, we met up with the others and made dinner. Later we ended up watching the movie, Gone Girl in our bunk room on Danielle's iPad and listened to Khalid's hilarious story about the worst day of his life. We left early in the morning from Lake Tekapo and continued on towards Christchurch. 

To be honest, I thought Christchurch was going to be a bit dull, but I was happily mistaken. I thought this because in 2010 the city suffered a horrible earthquake that destroyed much of its landscapes and architecture. I hadn't heard the best info about the place. However, the city has made great progress in building itself back up again. There is still a large amount of construction, but Christchurch was a stop full of surprises

The first surprise was a positively gorgeous botanical garden. Doug and I walked out of our hostel, turned left and (bam!) walked straight into the Christchurch city garden (which we didn't even know existed). We were amazed at how much land it covered. I loved it because it looked like it was straight out of Alice in Wonderland and was 10x better than the rose garden we visited previously in Rotorua. 

There were hundreds upon hundreds of flowers everywhere we looked. I couldn't get over how beautiful of a place it was.  We spent hours walking around-mainly because Doug stopped every three seconds to take a photograph of the flowers. (I'm not kidding. He took almost 100 photos.)

He's become quite the flower photographer professional. (The guy may have a second career ahead of him.)  

The second surprise was ice cream. I had been craving boysenberry ice cream and Christchurch had it! It was made right in front of my face with fresh berries and it was delicious. Ice cream tastes so much better when you can't go to the freezer and have it any time you want. This trip has made me appreciate things I completely take for granted at home. 

The third surprise was a kiwi family dinner, which wasn't exactly a surprise but anytime Khalid cooks it always turns out to be super tasty. This time it was spaghetti bolagnese-delicious! 

The fourth surprise consisted of a symphony, chocolate, and fireworks. The receptionist at the hostel informed us about music and fireworks in the park, so since we are backpacking (and love anything that's free) we walked over to check it out. Much to our surprise there were loads of people sitting in the park watching a large symphony orchestra play on a stage. 

As we wondered around to find a spot, kids walked the area with large boxes and handed out free chocolate bars! It was a delightful surprise to us all (again, mainly because it was free).  We sat and listened to the symphony play soundtrack songs from the James Bond, Harry Potter, and Superman films. Then came the fireworks. The music coinciding with the timing of the fireworks made for an exciting show and wonderful ending to our day. 

Christchurch turned out to be way better than we had anticipated. It was a great last night with our Irish friends Khalid and Ariane. They caught a flight early the next morning. We truly have met some interesting and super wonderful people on this trip!

We left Christchurch at roughly 7:30am the following day and drove off to Kaikoura. 

Currently we have been in Kaikoura for two days. It's been so much fun and we have had some wild and crazy encounters.....check out the next post to hear more about our time in Kaikoura, a city known in New Zealand for its eccentric marine life :) 

Thank you so much for reading! Hopefully everyone back home is enjoying that lovely snowstorm I keep hearing about :) Be safe and enjoy the time you hopefully get to spend inside with your families!