Central South Island

Last Sunday we headed down the coast from Kaikoura to Christchurch. Christchurch is very much like a little piece of England really, with streets named after English towns and punting on the river. Monday we dropped the camper off, managing to explain away the broken safe nicely, and then spent the rest of the day wandering around aimlessly, remarking at the similarities with the UK. Tuesday we picked up the car - a Toyota Corolla (not bad for $32NZD a day!) - and drove to Tekapo. We thought we'd miss the camper but after a days driving it was clear we wouldn't. The drive to Tekapo was incredible - we descended into an incredible mist-shrouded, crispy, white world, surrounded by mountains guarding enormous, sometimes partially frozen, bright blue lakes. We'd never seen anything like it before. After a night in great little hostel in Tekapo, we drove up to Mount Cook and went for a walk in the snow, before heading across to Oamaru on the East Coast. We treated ourselves to Pizza and spent the night in the Empire Hotel (a very traditional old hotel, converted into a hostel). Yesterday we drove down the coast to the Otago Peninsula (just past Dunedin), heading to a hostel we had heard good things about called McFarmer's Backpackers. Turned out the hostel was closed for the winter, but the owners had a small cottage they were renting out (see photo). Astoundingly it was only just over our budget so we're staying in it for two nights. It's really worth it for a bit of privacy and solitude. We're in Dunedin as I write this, heading back to Otago this afternoon to, hopefully, see the Penguins at dusk (they come out of the sea as it gets dark and waddle up the beach to their nests apparently!) Tomorrow we do the long drive across the country to Te Anau, form where you can visit Milford Sound.