I flew from Bali to Melbourne, and from Melbourne to Christchurch. I arrived in Christchurch early on March 15- like 5:30 AM. The place I booked a camper van at didn’t open til 9, so I ended up eating meat pies and drinking coffee at a convenience store run by some Chinese folks, which was actually kind of an awesome way to start my time in New Zealand.
After getting the camper van, I stocked up at a grocery store, fueled up at a gas station, and headed straight for Lake Tekapo. It was a rainy day, but after I arrived it cleared up enough for me to take a walk on the lake shore. I stayed at a park with hot showers and laundry, which was kind of important- I had inadvertently crushed a huge tropical spider in my left boot, so my left sock was kind of covered in spider juice and bits. I didn’t discover this until I had to take my boots off at the security checkpoint at the Bali airport after a 3 hour drive, so yeah… pretty nasty situation there.
The next morning I got up, visited the Church of the Good Shepard, and hit the road towards Wanaka. Driving in New Zealand is… just awesome. I’ll probably say that a few more times over the next few posts.
On the way to Wanaka, I made an unexpected stop at a place that sold salmon- Mt. Cook Salmon. The shop overlooks Lake Pukaki and Mount Cook. And the salmon is… crazy good. A lighter, sweeter flavor with a finer grain, but good amount of fat. I had sashimi on the hill overlooking the lake, and also bought some cold smoked for later. Featured image is of dinner in the camper van: cold smoked salmon, bread, and coffee.
After that I drove up the coast of Lake Hakea up to Lake Wanaka, where I camped out on the Boundary Creek delta on Lake Wanaka. That night the skies were clear. and the brightness and clarity of the moon and stars was incredible. The camper van had a moon roof above the mattress, which allowed me to sleep under the stars in the van. It occurred to me that the name of the camper van company- “Spaceships,” kind of made sense, cause when I closed the curtains, laid down and looked out the moon roof, it kind of felt like I was in space. Just… stars everywhere. It’s a pretty nice way to fall asleep.
The next morning I stopped into Wanaka for some fresh coffee and wifi, and then on to Queenstown. I stopped in Queenstown just to check it out and see if I wanted to stay, but didn’t really feel like it. It’s kind of a scene and kind of expensive. It’s definitely a beautiful place though. I stopped long enough to send a postcard and get a snack, but then pushed on to Te Anau.
Te Anau is a beautiful little town on Lake Te Anau- and it’s the closest town to Milford Sound. I stayed at a nicer park with hot showers, went to sleep early so I could get an early start for the drive to Milford Sound.
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