Lake Tekapo

Leaving Queenstown and turning north I had one last real stop down here before flying from Christchurch up to Wellington, saving myself some time instead of backtracking the very first days I had in New Zealand. This stop was Lake Tekapo, an area designated as a black out zone to better enjoy the night sky from the local observatory on top of mount John. Arriving I decided to continue the tradition of climbing up the nearest pile of dirt so up mount John I went. 

I must have made right, where I should have made a left, because I ended up on on the 2 hour trek to the summit. Realising this I decided to make a hard left and steer of the path and straight up the mountain side. Now the local rabbits weren't all that happy about this and they kept going off like little furry rockets flying out of the bush. 

At the summit I met a nice elderly couple from Canada, that had just spend 5 months in Hawaii so I got a few recommendations for my quick stop over in Honolulu. 

Back at the hostel our rokkie bus driver Jojo had offered to cook us all a proper Kiwi burger on the open barbeque. No Kiwi Burger is complete without fried eggs and beetroot!

Waking up the next morning I had a looong day of traveling before me as I would have to go from Tekapo to Christchurch and then fly to Wellington so a good 12 hours before I would crash in my hostel bed. To sweeten this trip up a little I went hunting for some kiwi chocolate as we stopped in a small town Geraldine. 

I got myself a piece of Hookey Pookey chocolate and something made out of a breakfast cereal that apparently has been putting holes in the teeth of Kiwi children for generations! Hookey Pookey is originally a vanilla icecream with pieces of crunchy caramel in it. 

Our rookie driver was having a bit of a tough day as first she could not get the handbreak unstuck and secondly driving into Christchurch the roads are changing all the time due to repairs after the earthquake so GPS is out of the question. This lead to a left turn directly into a one way street and some very surprised drivers! I was in no rush for my flight but some of the others were starting to look worried about their flights! 

But after some bus backing and a 17 point turn we made it to the airport, where I unrolled my towel and dazed in the sun enjoying a simple backpacker lunch.