Apr 10th: Driving to the Mountains

Day 7 (Day 3 in New Zealand)

After checking out of our hotel we called an Uber (arrived in 2 mins) to take us to the car rental office at Christchurch airport. The cost was barely a third of the taxi 2 days earlier.

After sorting out the admin, we were shown to our wheels for the next 19 days: a white Toyota RAV4 automatic with 116k km (72k miles) on the clock. Petrol driven. Not easy to estimate the year but I guess about 2020.

All the luggage fitted neatly into the boot, which was very important! Easy to drive too! We bluetoothed my music to the car’s speakers and set Waze to our destination and we were off. 

Within a few minutes we were away from Christchurch and travelling on almost empty single/carriageway roads. The only initial irritant was the wipers and indicator stalks being on opposite sides to our Volvos so every time I turned a corner I wiped the windows!

The 140 mile drive to Lake Tekapo was easy and full of “Wow!”s as we turned corners to see more mountains. [8 days later that is still happening with this incredible scenery].

Our hotel was beside the lake. Our room was on the first floor  with stunning views. The weather wasn’t great but the light drizzle and cool breeze have been much worse.

Almost outside of our door was the Lake Tekapo Dark Sky Project. An observatory and place to see the stars close up. Sadly, the sky was completely overcast so it wasn’t possible to make use of it. Happily, the sky was completely overcast as it was very expensive!

Instead we went for a walk around the lake for a few miles, marvelling at the crystal clear turquoise waters. We had to put up with a bit of drizzle but it didn’t dampen our spirits as heavy rain had been forecast.