We woke up at 6:00 a.m. this morning so that we could get an early start on our long drive back up to Christchurch. We figured if we left early, we could stop for breakfast in Queenstown. Quickly snapped a picture of Danika and her Kiwi out on the balcony. She bought it as a souvenir and it's a puppet, complete with turning head. She loves the little guy!
We left by 6:20 a.m. and I started driving. It was really difficult because I was headed directly into the rising sun and kept going in and out of it so I would get blinded and I could not see a thing! It really slowed down my driving for the first 30 kilometers. After that, the sun had risen enough so that it wasn't right on the horizon, and also we had turned northward, so it wasn't directly in front of me, so it was smoother sailing.
We left by 6:20 a.m. and I started driving. It was really difficult because I was headed directly into the rising sun and kept going in and out of it so I would get blinded and I could not see a thing! It really slowed down my driving for the first 30 kilometers. After that, the sun had risen enough so that it wasn't right on the horizon, and also we had turned northward, so it wasn't directly in front of me, so it was smoother sailing.
We arrived in Queenstown just around 8:20 a.m. and went to the Vudu Cafe for breakfast. David had read about it in the Lonely Planet. It was fabulous! We started with hot chocolate!
The kids and I had these fabulous pancakes with blueberries and roasted sunflower seeds and a raspberry sauce.
David had poached eggs. Everything was fabulous.
We walked around Queenstown for a bit and we all agreed that we would love to come back. It is definitely my favorite place so far on the South Island. There were parasailors above the hills.
There is a lovely little harbor with a nice sandy beach too...
We ended up leaving Queenstown and heading to Lake Tepako around 10:00 a.m. The entire drive was so beautiful with lupins all along the road.
There is a lovely little harbor with a nice sandy beach too...
We ended up leaving Queenstown and heading to Lake Tepako around 10:00 a.m. The entire drive was so beautiful with lupins all along the road.
On our way, we passed the beautiful Lake Pukaki with snow-covered Mt. Cook in the background. It was breathtaking. And yes, that is the actual color of the lake.
We arrived at Lake Tepako around 1:00 p.m., just in time for lunch, so we parked by the lake and made our sandwiches. David doesn't like peanut butter, and we had run out of ham, so I made him a raspberry jam and banana sandwich. It sounds disgusting, but he LOVED it! On one of our walks he said (a little too loudly) "Thanks for the BJ, it was awesome!" (meaning the Banana Jam sandwich) I about killed him!
Back on the road for another three hours, and I was so done with being in the car! We finally arrived at our place in Christchurch, next door to where we stayed last time we were in Christchurch, and checked in at 4:30 p.m. We specifically booked a place with a pool because we knew the kids would be cooped up in the car all day and a swim would do them good. I thought I would swim too, but it was really windy, and I was just freezing.
After the kids got some exercise, we headed off to dinner. Can't believe it is our last night in New Zealand, but I must say, I am ready to be home. Not really looking forward to tomorrow and the long 36 hours of travel to get there though!
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