New Zealand Trip Part 6 – Driving from Christchurch to Lake Tekapo

Lake Tekapo

Our first 24 hours in New Zealand included a beach, a lake and some lovely views. When we left the airport in Christchurch, it was a bit early to check in to our hotel and we wanted some fresh air as it was a beautiful day. We drove to Sumner Beach, just south of Christchurch and found a free parking spot.

We walked the beach for an hour or so. My wife was looking for shells and interesting driftwood and I was looking at the views and taking some pictures. I even climbed up a big rock pile to a small shelter that was built on top to get some better angles.

The rest of our Christchurch activities were in the prior post reviewing the Crowne Plaza. The next morning, we left Christchurch around 9am and headed on the scenic inland route to Tekapo.

We drove toward the mountains and briefly pulled over for some pictures at a viewpoint.

Our first actual stop was Rakaia Gorge. We parked and had a quick walk on the river front before continuing on toward the town of Geraldine.

In Geraldine, we stopped and went to Barker’s Food Store and bought some delicious cherry jam. Unfortunately, we left it in my wife’s backpack and it got confiscated at Queenstown airport security on our way home.

From there, we drove on to the town of Fairlie and the Fairlie Bake Shop for their famous pies. I had the bacon and salmon and my wife had the venison and cranberry. Both were delicious. We also bought a creme-filled cronut that we saved for later.

Our final stop before reaching Lake Tekapo was at Three Creeks, a vintage store stretching over several acres and buildings. They seem to mostly have vintage English and American advertising signs and knick-knacks.

Around 2:30pm, we reached Lake Tekapo and our home for the night, the Grand Suites. I’ll have a review of that hotel in the next post. We walked down the path next to the hotel out to the lakefront and the historic Church of Good Shepherd. The weather continued to be amazing.

I stopped for a local beer at a lakefront cafe while my wife browsed the souvenir shops.

After all the driving and the walking, we napped in the hotel room for an hour or two. That night, I picked up sushi at Kohan, which was a five-minute walk from the hotel. It wasn’t great, but considering we were in the middle of nowhere, it was OK (and still fresh).

That night, we did the Astro Tekapo stargazing tour, which I will post about separately. The next morning, rather than go out for breakfast, my wife ate the leftover sushi (yes, we had a fridge) and I ate some of the cronut we had bought at the Fairlie Bake Shop. We headed out to our next stop, Mount Cook.

Up Next: Grand Suites Lake Tekapo Review

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