Lake Tekapo to Queenstown and back… 1.17-24.2016
Sunday-After picking up our camper van we headed to the local Pac n’ Save to load up on some necessities for the next few days. We purchased the basics: water, eggs, lunch meat, bread, pasta, fruits, veggies, paper towel, dish soap, toilet paper and of course enough snacks to keep my hangry-ness in check!   

 
Then we headed 124 kilometers toward Lake Tekapo.  

  The day was a bit gloomy and raining but we soon forgot about the dreariness as we approached the bluest lake we had ever laid eyes on.  

  

Next on the list was to find the freedom(free$) campground. We found it, but it was full- they only allowed 5 vehicles to park at once, so the search began. We drove around and around, sometimes on the wrong side of the road (we were still adjusting to driving on the left side of the road!!) and finally found a hidden parking lot off the main road that overlooked the aqua blue water! Now time to get to know the lay of the land, we took a hike around the beautiful lake and stumbled upon a zipline….weeeeee!    
 For our first dinner we cooked up ramen noodles (thank you the the nice couple that gave them to us as they were returning their camper van) that hit the spot! 
Monday-Buttermilk pancakes for breakfast and then we were off. We followed the other tourist and joined in on taking a few of the iconic pictures.

   

    

Then we headed toward the lake and found a rock to sit on and relax. I ventured off and started to collect rocks to spell out DiMichele’s. I then turned to David and said (defeated), “This is going to take way too long…“. My very next response was, “Well, what else do I have to do today?”…we both had to laugh! It was such a nice feeling to “stop and smell the roses“. We ended our day at Reflections Restaurant where we enjoyed the nice staff and free WiFi! 

   
 Tuesday-We packed up shop and headed back to the restaurant for our morning cup of coffee and to make our calls to our parents before heading off to our next destination, Queenstown. We used our CamperMate App to find our next campground and off we went. With 154 kilometers to go we embraced the varying landscapes along the way: rolling hills, blue lakes, snow caped mountains, flowing streams, and flat countryside filled with endless sheep. We stopped for a photoshoot at Kawarau Gorge. The winding road reminded us of one of our favorite movies, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”. 

  
We finally arrived at our campsite that overlooked the iconic Lower Shotover River. We took a walk on the rivers edge, made pasta for dinner and talked with our neighbors (from England) on the must see places in town. 

  
Wednesday-We woke up to the sun heating us up in our camper van…ahhhh warmth! Stepping outside to clear skies, mountains in the distance and the blue river below us, not to shabby for Wednesday.  

 As we enjoyed breakfast for the first time outside our neighbors showered us with gifts: himalayan pink salt, peppercorns, olive oil, nuts, carrots, snacks and a football. They were returning home that day and we greatly appreciated their kindness.  

  
We said our goodbyes and then we headed into town. We took our neighbors advice and found the parking lot behind the rugby field. Parking was at a premium and we were lucky enough to talk with a man that was leaving, he ended up saving his spot for us and gave us his paid parking ticket for the rest of the day. We walked around, ate our first meat pie…I choose the venison and portobello and David had the beef cheek. They were delicious and filling!  

   

The Nevis Bungy was at the top of our list so we headed to Happy Travels and booked our jump for the following day @2pm…”Go big, or go home”. I took a nap once I got back and David updated his journal for the day. 

  
Thursday-I started to seriously reconsider my decision to bungy jump today, with only 5 hours left before taking the plunge. I knew there was no refunds, so we made our way back into town, found a park and headed toward the AJ Hackett Bungy Station. We arrived early (for once..lol), checked in and contacted our parents and told them we loved them one last time before throwing ourselves into a gorge. The 45 minute bus ride wound up a steep road and reached the top where we all unloaded.  

  They could only take groups of 6 out at a time so we had to wait. We were the second group to go, so we took the cable cart out to the middle of the gorge, we were suspended above the river with beauty all around us.  

   
 They added our final touches before we could jump and then they called David’s name…he was a pro…literally he got the GoPro footage to prove it.  

  
Then they called my name… shaking in my boots I made my way out to the platform. I didn’t think I could do this and I am forever grateful for the amazing staff who really calmed me down. 

Countdown…3-2-1….holyyyyy crap

… I’m flyyyyinggg

…OMGGGGG

…dammit, I forgot to press start on the camera

…where’s the cord to release my feet?

…ok, wow what a view

…EPIC!!

…that was the longest/fastest 8 seconds of my life! 

    

  Bungy Jump…CHECK and yes we would do it again. We celebrated with Dominoes pizza and a 6 pack of David’s beer of choice, Peroni!

  
Friday-What a day…we woke up and met our friendly neighbors from Melbourne, Australia, the Lee’s. They greeted us with hot coffee, fresh picked blueberries and toast with their Aussy staple spread, Vegetine. The mom took me for a tour of the near by fruit trees and invited us to stay with them once we arrive in Melbourne! We are going to take them up on their offer. David and I enjoyed their company and conversation and then we parted ways. They were on their way to Hobbiton and we were headed 226 kilometers southeast to Milford Sound. It was a windy day and we felt every bit of it while we were driving in the campervan. We stopped at Lake Gunn to enjoy the clear waters from the glacier. The hills soon turned into mountains covered with cascading waterfalls, shrubs into gorgeous pine trees and sunny skies into clouds and mist.  

    
   
 I felt like my mind was on sensory overload, not knowing which way I should look, fearing I would miss out on all the beauty around me. We passed through the scariest tunnel ever and came out on the other side to one of the most beautiful landscapes we have ever seen, there were waterfalls everywhere and we were up in the clouds. We made our way to Milford Sound and walked around and decided since the weather was not our side that we would turn around and head back toward town. On the way back we experienced our camper van almost overheating, we pulled off the road, enjoyed the views and continued on the way taking the uphill sections very slow. We drove into the sunset and made it back to our campsite in Queenstown around 11:30pm. It was a long day (11 hours of driving) with some bumps along the way but in the end it was another great day!

  
Saturday-Since we had to make our way north and backtrack somewhat, we input Lake Tekapo into the GPS and headed back to our spot. This time instead of cool weather and rain we we greeted with sunny skies! We ate dinner Kohan Restaruant and enjoyed sushi, salmon, stir-fried veggies and a nice pot of green tea.  
FUN FACTS: 

-Neck pillow can double as a great lumbar support while driving : )

-Trash is called “Rubbish”

-Hot showers are NOT over-ratted

-If there are more than 3 vehicles behind you on the road, pull over- or you will be given a fine$

-Animals seen so far: countless sheep, deer, horses, cows, bison, hawks, chickens, llamas, ducks and rabbits

-dishwashers are a luxury

P.S- If anyone is wondering our system on how we update our blog, here it is…David writes in his journal (a gift my wonderful mother gave him a couple years back) every night. He is very detailed in his entries keeping tabs on every penny spent and every mile driven. That is where I come into play… I read his entries and then type my version of the day and blend it with his to create DiMichele’s Destinations! : ) Thanks again to everyone who has been following along with us. If you have any questions or just want to leave us a comment, we love it all!!!!!