Christmas in Canterbury

After a night in Timaru with no penguin sighting, we left the east coast of New Zealand freshly showered. Since it was quite cold and rainy that day, we treated ourselves to a hot shower at the local swimming pool.

Our drive towards the Alps was very exciting. After about an hour, the weather suddenly changed. After our senior, Odhi – that's what we lovingly named our car – successfully conquered the first ascent without any damage, we reached a plateau. Behind us was a wall of clouds with rain, ahead of us was an open expanse with sun and mountains.

We continued to Lake Tekapo. We spent the night at a campsite located by a small neighboring lake. At sunset, we took a leisurely walk and were amazed by the magnificent surroundings. By the way, this region is known for its breathtaking starry nights, as there are hardly any sources of light. Unfortunately, our timing was not ideal as it was a full moon. However, this circumstance was still acceptable to us because the rising full moon reflected in the lake was equally impressive.

Christmas, admittedly that was a long time ago. We started Christmas Day at the other end of the world with a beautiful breakfast and one of the most stunning views imaginable. At our feet was Lake Tekapo adorned with lupins in various pastel tones.

We took a half-day hike with beautiful views and then took a freezing dip in the lake.

We spent Christmas Eve at Lake Pukaki, which stretches for 30 kilometers. We were not aware that there are so many large lakes here. Once again, we were thrilled. The chosen campsite was right by the lake, so we could see the lake with Mount Cook in the background from our car. This mountain, standing at 3754 meters, is the highest in New Zealand and bears the Maori name Aoraki, which means "cloud piercer." We tried to make our Christmas at the other end of the world as cozy and homely as possible, but we all agreed that we missed our family and the German Christmas feeling on these days. We cooked ourselves a delicious dinner, and to Tim's delight, there was finally some meat. The day ended with a sunset in this magnificent setting.

On Christmas Day, we had some time to explore the area. The combination of curiosity, the thirst for adventure, and breathtaking panoramas truly made us forget the longing for Christmas. Just a short distance from the campsite was a small bay. The shore was very rocky, and the slope was sometimes steep – definitely not suitable for flip-flops. During our exploration, we found a small boat. It was attached to a small sign and was called "Hobbits Boat." We took the opportunity and didn't miss an unexpected journey...

In the afternoon, we enjoyed a refreshing swim in the crystal-clear glacier-fed lake. It didn't feel too cold to us, but we had a lot of fun watching others push their limits.