Lake Tekapo, Christchurch and Sydney

We spent one night on a farm approx. 1 hr from Lake Tekapo, I'm not sure why our travel agent booked us here but the people were very nice. It was interesting to see how the average farmer lives (if one can judge after 1 night only)but they seem much like Canadian farmers in as much as they are not rich by any means and have to face significant challenges to make a "go of it".


The next day we drove to Lake Tekapo where we ended up staying for 2 nights (we were originally booked for 1 night only but realized that our booking in Christchurch was not for 2 days). Fortunately, our travel agent came into the office on her day off to send an amendment to the motel for an extra night after receiving our email. We were very impressed with her professionalism and how helpful the lady at the motel was as well. It was great to have 2 days in Lake Tekapo since we had a wonderful view of the lake and it was good to relax. Lake Tekapo is a popular distination for thousands of visitors each year. Unfortunately, the lake is too cold to swim in (8-10C) but is a lovely turquoise. The glaciers in the headwaters of Tekapo grind rock into a fine dust on their journey down towards the lake. This "rock flour" is suspended in the water and when combined with sunlight creates the unique water colour. We have never seen anything quite like it. We also visited the small church which was built in the 1930s and is used by 3 different christian denominations. Very cozy and a beautiful setting with the lake as a backdrop.


We dropped off our car at the rental company and they offered to drive us to our hotel. Really first class treatment and so friendly. We spent another 2 days in Christchurch where we took long walks in Hyde Park/botanical gardens which was filled with beautiful flowers and plants. It also had different varieties of wonderful old tress which seem to grow a lot faster here since there is no harsh winter like in Canada. We even went to a movie "Death at a Funeral" which is a British comedy (very funny). We also had a number of great meals!

Our flight to Auckland and our connection to Sydney went off without a hitch. We soon found ourselves at the Cremorne Manor B&B which is just a short ferry ride from Circular Quay. The manor has a large verandah on the second floor where we were able to have a drink while taking in the view of the harbour. We spent a most enjoyable day touring the harbour on the local ferries (we bought a day tripper pass for the princely sum of $16 each). The rest of our time was used planning our trip down south and making the necessary arragements. We were not really too disappointed since we had visited Sydney before and we were not interested in doing the tourist thing again.