This photo of Lake Tekapo outlined by lupins in full bloom was the reason I set my heart on traveling to New Zealand. All previous days in Auckland felt like a warm-up after seeing South Island's dramatic landscape, and this was only the beginning.
Itinerary of the day: Auckland → Christchurch (Apex Car Rentals) → Lake Tekapo → KOHAN Japanese Restaurant
As mentioned in earlier entries, we cooked most of our meals, and most accommodation in New Zealand did not provide breakfast. This was what our typical breakfast looked like.
I booked a taxi to the airport through our hotel, with a flat rate of 35 NZD. Cheaper than the shuttle or the bus (for a group of 3).
Air New Zealand's domestic check-in was completely self-serve, but the staff there helped us with everything without making a fuss.
Regarding booking domestic flights in NZ, my advice as a visitor is to book tickets through "airnewzealand.co.nz", not ".com"! The "Grabaseat" special airfare will only show up in their NZ website, and the difference between a regular ticket vs. Grabaseat can be as much as 100 NZD. We took our flights with no problem, so this is not a resident-only ticket option (unlike in Peru). Just make sure to read all the fare and luggage rules before buying!
Since this was my first time taking Air NZ, I asked flight attendants to take picture with me. They were so nice! I love Air NZ's uniforms! I could't help but grin to look back at this thing I once drew and realized that I ticked off all the landmarks plus the airline!
The paint job on the aircraft and the inflight magazines were all so cute!
We visited just the right time to catch the Hobbit safety video An Unexpected Briefing. I had seen this when it first came out, while the Peter Jackson cameo was obvious, but didn't realize Dean O'Gorman (Fili) was also in it! He was also in the newer Air NZ video Just another day in Middle-earth.
No srsly I cannot handle all this cute
Even the paper cup was Hobbit themed! (and I was writing all my 1304925 postcards)
One hour and twenty minutes later, we arrived at South Island!
The Amazing Race had visited New Zealand several times in Season 2, 5, 13, and 22. Not surprising when kiwi host Phil Keaghan has his own section on the Christchurch & Canterbury tourism site. Christchurch airport seemed so familiar when I just finished watching Season 22 at that time!
After landing, it was time to pick-up our rental car. Car hire is the best way to tour New Zealand, as buses are scarce and pricey. Global chains like Avis/Hertz/Budget (first-tier) were more expensive, but local company (second-tier) rate could be as low as 35NZD a day!
The most popular companies among backpackers are Ace, Jucy, A2B, GO, Omega, Ezy, just to name a few. For the South Island, we chose Apex car rental company for the following:
- 12 NZD/day zero excess insurance <---main reason
- 6.50 NZD/day GPS rental
- no extra fee for return at different location
- no airport fees
- no extra driver fee <---common in NZ
- unlimited kilometres <---common in NZ
The total cost with GPS and insurance still came up to be much lower than what I would have to pay for the first-tier rental companies. The only real disadvantage for using second-tier companies was that their office were mostly not located in the airport, and would require a short shuttle ride.
The car pick-up process took only about half and hour. Online booking is highly recommended, and as is reading the fine prints regarding driver's requirement, extra fees applicable, and insurance coverage. Each company's policies are different.
Apex gave us a free empty SIM card, as a promotion for the phone company 2degrees. This has proven to be SO USEFUL in the next few days, because even without any cash credit in the card, we could make free calls to 1800 numbers (most tourist businesses had that) and also receive calls.
The car we got was a grey Toyota Corolla, my top choice because of its great fuel efficiency. 1800 c.c. was plenty enough for South Island. Apex generally stocks older cars, but this one had mp3 jacks! The only complaint was the wheel alignment was off by a little, so we constantly have to pull slightly right. Again, older car that was probably due for a maintenance.
Studying the traffic rules ahead of time was a good thing to do. Most rules were identical to Canada, but on opposite sides. Many travelers would agree the trickiest thing in NZ is the roundabout. In addition learn about common road signs to ensure a safe drive.
Speaking of signs, the speed limit sign looked so similar to a local soft drink brand in Taiwan, which made the long drives a little bit more entertaining. 台灣人都知道我在說什麼吧？每次變限速時副駕就會以“黑松70了""黑松100”來提醒駕駛...
This was my dad's and my first time driving on the opposite side (mom refused to drive at all), so we were glad the route from Christchurch to Lake Tekapo was flat and straight. Traffic was light everywhere, so we were able to get the hang of it quickly and safely. Having said that, in the beginning we were all
(obligatory Amazing Race reference)
We kept driving too close to the edge of the road, mixing turn signals with wipers, and occasionally turn into the wrong side OTZ
Before leaving the city, we stopped by a suburban Pak'nSave to have a simple lunch and replenish our food supply.
Exactly in this Pak'nSAVE's parking lot, dad managed to hit someone's jeep in the parking lot because he miscalculated the distance on the left of the car. There weren't any damage to the jeep because it had rubber bumpers, but our car's front bumper dislodged a bit. In the next nine days, the car got many more small scratches because of flying pebbles and whatnot. With zero excess I didn't have to worry about any of this, so I was glad for the ease of mind at such a small cost.
The first two hours of the drive to Lake Tekapo (Highway 1) was pretty meh, but got a lot more scenic after we turned into Highway 79 and Highway 8.
I felt like I was back in Tuscany.
After a 3h drive, we arrived in Lake Tekapo. Lake Tekapo is a popular tourist destination, but had very few accommodation. B&B's only take one client at a time, and holiday houses mostly require a two night stay. There were about two or three small-sized hotels in total. I tried to book three months prior, and most places were already full! Luckily, I found Parkhead Motel (which also got full by the time we checked in).
This motel didn't fill up that fast most likely because of its age, and the lack of an automated booking system. The owner was not very prompt with replying emails either. To make a booking, I had to make international phone call to secure our room with my card number, and many travelers would not be comfortable with that.
Thankfully, everything worked out and the owner Simon was a friendly old guy. Don't be put off by his blunt replies in emails and phones, he's just busy and not very tech-savvy.
The setup reminds me a lot of old cottages in Muskoka (Ontario, Canada). The furnitures were dated, but gave off a nice cozy atmosphere.
The bathroom showed just how old these little cottages were. My family are peasants at heart so as long as stuff function properly we wouldn't complain.
A washer was a huge plus.
This cottage had two bedrooms, with one extra bed in the living/dining area.
I was very set on booking a place to stay with the perfect lake view, and Parkhead Motel totally fitted the bill. The motel sat right by the lake and was only a short walk to the Tekapo township.
Lake Tekapo is best known for its beautiful turquoise waters, formed by "rock flour" - rocks ground into fine dust by glaciers in the headwaters.
The weather was cloudy and windy today, so the surface and colour of the lake was less than optimal, but we were still blown away by its beauty! We started walking towards Tekapo town, and saw bundles of lupins dotted along the lakeshore. We stopped for so many photos, not knowing that this was nothing compared to what we would see later!
Tekapo is a small place, and the only landmarks were the "Church of the Good Shepherd" and a bronze statue of New Zealand Collie sheepdog beside it.
Lake Tekapo town had a small Four Square, a gas station, and a few selection of restaurants. Kohan Japanese Restaurant had been made popular by backpackers.com.tw, and the popularity was proven when we had to wait for a table.
We used the waiting time to browse the souvenir store next to it. The store was also Japanese run, and geared towards Japanese tourists.
Here I found the famed possum fur nipple warmers! (informed by my Kiwi friend and her Hetalia fancomic) This shall be on my list of questionable souvenirs along with Italy's penis shaped pasta and Netherland's penis shaped salt & pepper shakers!
No really. What's the purpose of this. Do people really use this or there are just too many possums to kill? This cost 7.50NZD? Little do I know, the best has yet to come of this possum line of body part warmers...
Ok back to Kohan, and let's talk about food. The chef and the waiters of Kohan were all Japanese, but the food was made from local New Zealand ingredients. Their most popular menu item was the Salmon Don, which I highly recommend. The salmon were farmed nearby (which we would visit a couple days from now), using the very same glacier water as the source of Lake Tekapo.
We also got the Tekapo Roll, which I felt was not of the same value...kind of small for the price.
For value, I would suggest the Kohan Bento Box. Again, a lot of salmon. The grilled salmon was delicious!
After dinner, the sun was setting and clouds departed, perfect lighting for photos! The lupins in full bloom, the turquoise waters, and mountainous drama of the Southern Alps were a perfect trio. I FINALLY caught the flowering season this year, and I got to say this felt a lot better than my epic tulip miss in the Netherlands!
The lupins near the Tekapo town were the most luscious.
I took soooo many photos here that my parents had to ditch me and head back to the motel by themselves.
Shooting till the moon came out...
A view of Church of the Good Shepherd.
Lake Tekapo is a popular wedding photo spot. I saw this couple shooting by the lake, and they returned to the Church of the Good Shepherd at 2AM for another photo shoot! Wow so much hard work for wedding photos! I wonder how much would a photoshoot trip like this cost?
The Church of the Good Shepherd was closed at this time (5:00pm), so we planned to come back tomorrow morning.
It was getting dark and started to rain, so I had to dash back to the motel, get some rest, and prepare for my night photoshoots.
Lake Tekapo is a world renowned spot for stargazing because of local effort to eliminate light pollution. The Lake Tekapo region, along with Mt.Cook National Park, were developed as "Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve". Any new constructions would be carried out under strict regulations (perhaps this was the reason for so few hotels). Not far from the town is Mt.John, and the observatory on top of the mountain provided daily stargazing tours given that the weather is good.
Even though this area claimed to have a high probability of clear nights, it was obvious that today was not the best. Not only it was intermittently cloudy, the moon was too bright. Nevertheless, I headed out at about 11pm to the Church of the Good Shepherd for some night photography.
There were already a few photographers there, so I was deprived of options as to where I could set up my shot. I also regretted not having a full height tripod with me, as there weren't many things to attach a Gorillapod to.
I was not too happy about this shot, but other shots with better compositions were photobombed by Chinese girls =x=
I photographed until 1am, and dad woke up in the middle at night to look at the uninhibited stars. We were too excited to feel tired, not knowing that tomorrow would be an even more amazing drive into the Mt.Cook National Park.
