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Part 1 of 7New Zealand's South Island, 2019

From Christchurch to Lake Tekapo

Two families, two rented cars and my first time driving in a foreign country, from a nervous drive through Christchurch to a first evening at Lake Tekapo.

By Thawaio1 min read21–23 November 2019 · Christchurch and Lake Tekapo

A row of tall, narrow poplar trees along the shore of a bright turquoise lake, with a long green hill behind and stony ground in the foreground.
Lake Tekapo, 23 November.

In November 2019, two families travelled together to New Zealand’s South Island. There were ten of us. Each family had a husband and wife, two grandparents and one child. The two wives were friends, and our two families had already been on holiday together earlier that year, in Phuket.

We flew with Qantas from Singapore to Melbourne on 21 November, and from Melbourne to Christchurch on 22 November.

Two cars and two drivers

At Christchurch Airport, we picked up two rented Toyota RAV4s, one for each family. Ours was the hybrid version, so we didn’t need to refuel as often.

Only the two husbands drove, for the whole road trip. Before we could take the cars, we completed the rental company’s short driving assessment. It was about ten questions, not a practical driving test.

This was my first time driving in a foreign country. Before the trip, I spent a lot of time studying New Zealand’s driving rules and watching YouTube videos. I paid particular attention to merging lanes and to the narrow single-lane bridges, where one direction has to give way to the other.

Even so, I was genuinely nervous driving through the unfamiliar streets of Christchurch to our hotel.

Out of the city

On 23 November, we drove out of Christchurch towards Lake Tekapo. Once we were outside the city, my nervousness disappeared, and I began to love the drive. The countryside was mesmerising.

Green farmland rolling away to the horizon under low grey cloud, with lines of tall poplars and darker shelter belts across the fields.
Farmland on the way to Lake Tekapo, 23 November.
A grassy roadside bank with a fence post, and a line of tall poplars running across green fields beyond, under low cloud.
Poplars along the fields.

Lake Tekapo

My first photographs at Lake Tekapo are from just after one o’clock. I thought the lake was exceptionally beautiful.

An empty road curving towards the lake, with a footpath at the right, the pale blue water and a long low hill beyond under a hazy sky.
Arriving at Lake Tekapo.
Purple lupins and tussock grass on a stony shore, with a wide turquoise lake, a few people at the water’s edge and hills on the far side.
Lupins by the lake.
Golden tussock grass beside a curving path and a small lamp post, with young trees and low buildings of the township beyond.
Tussock beside the path.
A gravel path running between lupins and dry grass, with a brown sign for the Round Hill ski area at the right and mountains in the distance.
The lakeside path.
Low dark modern buildings on the lakefront, one with a white dome on its roof, beyond a gravel path and a wide lawn.
Buildings along the lakefront.
A weathered wooden bench with a small bird perched on its back, on stony ground near the lake, with buildings and a white dome in the distance.
A bench by the lake.

Lakes Edge Holiday Park

That night, we stayed at Lakes Edge Holiday Park. I prepared a BBQ, and we enjoyed some beer together.

Looking out from a covered deck past a glass of beer and a bottle on a small table and a pair of crossed legs, towards dark timber cabins on a gravel yard among tall pine trees.
A beer on the deck at Lakes Edge Holiday Park.