Our plan on leaving Aoraki was to go to Lake Tekapo. Tekapo offered great hiking trails and star-gazing reputed to be the very best. New Zealand has very high air quality and night skies are spectacular from most locations. Due to the lack of light pollution at Tekapo this was reputed to be the pinnacle. Hiking and star-gazing weren’t very feasible in a torrential downpour, though.
We had a forecast for 4 continuous days of heavy rain and a camper van with no awning. We needed to find accommodation. It was the height of tourist season. While finding a campsite was easy, all other accommodations were fully booked. We thought of getting a room at Lake Tekapo and waiting it out, but nothing was available.
Our next destinations were Hanmer Springs where we anticipated a nice spa day, and Kaikoura, a place famous for whale watching and great seafood. The earliest we could find a room in either place was 2 days out in Kaikoura. At this point, the need for a bedroom was above all other priorities. We downloaded the AirBnB App and got busy. We spent two nights at AirBnb’s, one in Ashburton and the other in Pegasus, to the south and north of Christchurch respectively.
Our stop at Ashburton was at the Lake Hood
Guest suite, a studio apartment in a lovely setting.
On this rainy day it made a great place to have some fine Indian take away. We were delighted with delicious lamb rogan josh, beef vindaloo and palak paneer.
A shout-out to the Spice Express in Tinwald. We lived for many years in Vancouver where very good Indian food is abundant. Spice Express exceeded our expectation. If you like Indian food, this is a top notch place!
Our stop in Pegasus was at the AirBnB “Luxury Peaceful Modern Home Away From Home” hosted by Gene adjacent to this lovely park.
At Gene’s advice, and with a break in the rain, we walked to The Good Home Gastropub.
It had a wonderful feel and made a nice environment for an evening out and a good meal.
Good New Zealand grass fed beef made for two of the tastiest steaks we’d had in a while. It looks so simple, some veggies, a couple of spuds and a steak. It was a delicious and memorable dinner!
Back for a good night’s sleep at Gene’s and we’re off to Kaikoura.
Grampafacts 