The South Island, East Coast

---

THE SOUTH ISLAND, EAST COAST

---

4th - 8th March 2019

---

Leaving Queenstown was sad as it had become our social base. A lot of people actually finished the Kiwi Bus there so everyone started to split off going elsewhere. However, we were ready for the next part of our adventure and drove to a beautiful lake called Lake Pukaki, with its magical blue waters. Never have we seen a lake such a vivid turquoise blue (photo above).

Lake Pukaki is the largest lake of the three lakes running parallel along the edge of the Mackenzie Basin, and one of the other lakes was Lake Tekapo which is where we stayed.

Although only staying for a night, we enjoyed the peace and quiet that came from our hostel right on the lake. Lake Tekapo is situated in the International Dark Sky Reserve, which means that artificial light pollution is very restricted. Perk: it is one of the best places in the world to stargaze and that is exactly what we did. After 10pm when it was pitch black outside we all went down and stargazed from the beach - and truely, the most incredible night sky we have ever seen.

---

The next day we travelled to Christchurch, located halfway down the east coast of the South Island. Many people will think of Christchurch as the city that suffered a series of earthquakes from 2010-2012. The earthquake in 2012 killed 185 people and many of the buildings collapsed due to severe damage. We visited the memorial for those 185 people who were lost which is 185 white chairs.

It was a heartbreaking place to walk around, knowing that many lives had been lost exactly where we were standing due to a natural disaster.

The city was still under reconstruction, many new buildings were being put up and many old historic ones trying to be held up. Known for its familiarity to England, Christchurch still had some beautiful buildings that reminded us very much of home. As well as some cool street art that we have seen throughout travelling New Zealand.

Although we could see the beauty of Christchurch and what it had once been, it felt very empty and you could tell it had suffered a massive loss. However, we spent some time chilling in one of the parks near our hostel that felt like a little paradise.

---

The following day we got back on our Kiwi Bus and drove to Kaikoura on the north east of the South Island. It is a coastal town that is known for its abundant wildlife, including an incredible dolphin and whale population as well as a fur seal colony. The town itself was very quaint and we spent a few nights enjoying the surroundings.

Although we didn’t go whale watching due to our travellers budget, we did get to see lots of dolphins and seals on our way into Kaikoura. Our time spent there was very relaxed and the hostel had its own pool (so we definitely took advantage of that).

Shrove Tuesday of course meant that we had to follow the tradition of eating as many pancakes as possible and that’s exactly what we did (except we did it a day late so technically it was Pancake Wednesday haha).

Next destination: Picton

---

- A