The Lupin has Landed

After many hours in transit we finally make it to New Zealand. Auckland airport is our first taste of the country as we wait for our connecting flight down to Christchurch. Most things are fairly country ambiguous, save for perhaps the rugby ball vending machine! For our first meal we enjoyed two tasty noodle soups, a preview of what was to come as we soon learned that Asian cuisine is very common in New Zealand (as are Asian tourists!). We found a lovely patio next to the food court and basked in the noon-day sun, not a bad temperature for December 9th! My first case of culture shock came when going through security in the domestic terminal, they don't make you take off your shoes and hardly bother with coats or hats too! How trusting these Kiwis are!

By the time we landed and gathered up our bags it was close to 4pm, a four4 hour difference from when we had intended to land. We got a lovely ride to the rental agency from abcDee, who also gave us a lovely summary of Christmas in the warmer Southern Hemisphere and how they are slowly creating their own carols etc. to reflect the warmer climate. A few minutes later we were given the keys to a late model Nissan Sunny. We quickly dubbed him Uncle Sunny and I took the first stab at driving on the left hand side of the road. 

Despite the overcast skies it was easy to be awed by the raw, natural beauty which quickly took over our view after leaving Christchurch. I was filled with joy when I started seeing one of my favorite flowers, lupines, growing in huge swaths by the roadside. We would later learn that these are actually deemed invasive, at least in certain parts of the country, but they sure do look nice from your car window! The drive to Mt. Cook Village passes by two beautiful glacial lakes, Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki. Unfortunately due to our later start I was afraid we would miss seeing them both (despite the fact that it stays light in the summer till at least 9pm). Thankfully we rolled into Lake Tekapo just at dusk and were able to marvel at the turquoise blue water with more gorgeous lupines growing along the coast. The blue color comes from the very fine glacial flour which is suspended in the water.

The rest of our drive to the village was uneventful, minus the many rabbits who kept trying to play frogger with our car! Nothing gets you acclimated to a new driving technique like having to break and swerve as rabbits dodge in between your wheels! We pulled into a pitch-dark village and hit the hay, excited for the adventure awaiting us during our first full day on holiday!