Easter break day 1: Mt Cook

We had a two-day break going to South Island, specifically to Mt Cook and Christchurch. In the midst of NZ recession outlook, we still however continued with our plan to have a costly holiday. Do we have to avoid that? No. We need to live our life to the full, yet with a help from one important economic tool, i.e., saving. Our next holiday should be Christmas considering that we need to save some money again after spending quite much on this Easter Holiday.

We started from home around 5 am on Good Friday to Wellington Airport and parked our car at the long term car park. It costs $41 for 2 nights. We booked the flight two months ago, so we could get the cheapest available fare from Air NZ. Our flight to Christchurch boarded on 6.30 am. The flying time from Wellington to Christchurch is normally 45 minutes. Kezia really enjoyed the flight.

Arriving at Christchurch Airport around 7.30 am, I then went to Avis Rental Cars counter to pick up the car key reserved and sign some papers. The base rental fee for 2 days is $110 ($55/day) plus airport fee $30. For the sake of "no-hassle trip", I also added a GPS costing $20 for 2 days ($10/day). Putting the GPS into practice, I could save lots of time wondering where to go using a map, particularly in the urban area. Bear in mind, I've never been in South Island or Christchurch before even after 8 years living in NZ.

Finding the car is a small nice new car (2007), we became overwhelmed since our car is 12 years older. I loaded all of our stuff in to the car including Kezia's carseat and stroller. Kezia seemed happy as she thought the white car was our new car. After setting the GPS, we drove to the City Worcester Motel to check-in. The motel is located in the city centre area and the rate is quite cheap compared to the other motels, costing $200 for 2 nights. It's clean but with old furniture. I met some Japanese and Dutch tourists staying next door and downstair.

After getting the room key, we straightaway drove to Lake Pukaki. I set the GPS to Lake Pukaki Visitor Centre. It's a 4 hours drive departing around 9 am and arriving at Pukaki around 13 pm. We then had our lunch there. Nina prepared nasi goreng and tuna croissant for our lunch. We spent time enjoying the scenery and taking photos.

We then decided to drive to Mt Cook village as it's not really part of the plan. But Alison, my boss, suggested me to visit Mt Cook because it's worth coming by after driving a long way from Christchurch. The route is a dead end road, easy drive as not so much traffic, the best scenic drive in NZ and it's only 30 minutes from Pukaki. We enjoyed the scenery of the green Lake Pukaki on the right, Ben Ohau Range on the left and The Southern Alps on the front. It's an amazing beautiful scene. Thanks Ally. A bit tear in my eyes for someone who had been waiting for 8 years to enjoy the beauty of South Island. Next tear would be Queenstown! (I have the plan in my mind and pocket)

After walking around the Mt Cook village and taking photos, we realised that The Church of Good Shepperd, Lake Tekapo, is our main plan. Then, we drove back to Lake Tekapo as we actually just passed through it on the way to Pukaki. The view from the church is amazing. The church has a glass window behind the altar so that the congregation can enjoy the scenery while having the service. We had a big while having a good time taking photos and lying down on the grass enjoying the scenery of the lake, Southern Alps and Two Thumb Range.

We left Lake Tekapo around 6 pm headed back to Christchurch. The next day we had our Christchurch time.

Good Friday is good, thank be to God for the safe flight and drive.