NZ Day 5: Twizel to Christchurch

Merry Christmas! This post might reach some of you on this great day, and I wish you a blessed one. It has been for us. We had slept well, even after the previous day’s soaking, and enjoyed breakfast at the hotel, as we were not sure what else would be open. From the dining room, we had a fine view of the bedrooms. Guess which one was our’s, the one with the crazy people who hike in the rain…

Even though it was just a 40 minute drive to Lake Tekapo, we had to stop for the view toward Mt Cook on a clear day.

We arrived at Lake Tekapo, but our first order of business was arranging our wet shoes in the sun to dry.

We were very happy to attend a Christmas morning service at the Church of the Good Shepherd. It can hold up to fifty people, but has the most amazing views. We sang some great hymns, listened to Bible readings and a good message followed by Holy Communion. It was great that they were able to emphasize “mountains” and “shepherds” so much in the messages and readings.

After the service and a chat with the minister who was from Wisconsin, we took the obligatory family pictures which was so much fun, but was challenging to avoid the crowds.

I also had to try and take some artsy shots!

There is a fun memorial to sheepdogs close by.

Next was a batch of lupins for the group picture. They look so much like Texas bluebonnets! Perhaps they are the same – we need to find a botanist. We know bluebonnets are of the lupin family (Lupinus texensis).

We ate our picnic lunch at a viewpoint.

After lunch, it was time to hit the road, but of course we had to stop a couple of times.

In Christchurch, I had a bit of fun returning the rental car after hours. I parked and dropped off the key, so I hope that was right! Then, it was to our fine two rooms at the Crowne Plaza on the 15th floor rooms. My room even had a balcony, but I could not step out onto it…. Samuel was ready to jump off it, if he had a piece of elastic. We ate light dinners at the hotel as not much else seemed open.

It’s an early start tomorrow to catch our train and ferry which ends our South Island adventure.

This page is part of our New Zealand trip set of posts