Wednesday, Feb 24th .... first day of REALLY being in New Zealand

... And what a warm and lovely day it was in Christchurch.  Dennis left our motel around 7:30am to hitch a ride to the airport to pick up our rental car.  And being The Shopper Man that he is, he found a great Kiwi grocery store chain (Countdown) where of course he signed up for their discount card.  A nice stock of New Zealand wine and items for this afternoon’s bed picnic were purchased.   And since we NEVER start a road trip without a McDonald’s breakfast, we had to continue the tradition …

 

Note my toe with ice applied.  It’s been a week today ~ getting better by the minute. 

Moving on down the road, it is a little nerve-racking driving on the left side of the road, but Dennis is a pro and did a great job, with me serving as navigator.  It was a 3 hour drive to our Wednesday night accommodation at Lake Tekapo Motels and Holiday Park (pronounced Take-A-Po).  We have one of six simple and clean studio motel units with a lovely view of the lake.  The rest of the park is quite large with RV, cabin and tent sites, and a Hot Springs Park.  Thank goodness we had reservations; so far we are seeing many NO VACANCY signs. 

 

We did drive into the “town center” thinking we’d have lunch out, and a light dinner at our room, but it was that magical time when many of the restaurants were closed.  So we wandered into The General Store and decided this would be the perfect day to eat at “home” all day since there were gas grills just a few steps from our room.  And look what we found …. Lamb Burgers! 

 

A lovely walk along the lake rounded out the afternoon.  With my most-likely broken toe, I was very happy that we completed a mile plus long walk with cameras in hand …

 

  

 

 

Dinner was simple, delicious, and touched by a fabulous view …

 

As I write this later in the evening, Dennis is snoring next to me in bed.  Lake Tekapo is renowed as a pristine and dark sky.  It is actually no higher in altitude than Sahuarita, but it does not have the light of any city compromising the sky.  So .... there is no way I’m going to sleep without stepping outside to check out the sky.  But as it is meant to be .... no view tonight.  Too many clouds.

And that makes me very grateful, and even more appreciative of where I already live.  NOTE TO SELF:  never go to bed at home without going outside and looking up at our fabulous Tucson night sky.

Off to Queenstown tomorrow for a THREE NIGHT stay!