DAY 76: More Friends, Lake Tekapo, and a very cold night

Emma and I decided to check out the "Re-Start Mall" in Christchurch. The Re-Start Mall is basically a large area with shops that are built inside old shipping containers. It was pretty cool and reminded us of something they would do in Burlington. We walked around, bought more food, got the 5th Game of Thrones book, checked out of our hostel and caught the bus to the airport.

Jaime and Lizzy were returning from Australia and were joining us for our last week of mid-semester break. Amy, who went with them, hung out with her parents who were visiting for the next two weeks. So unfortunately, we did not get to see her much. But our other friend Sarah met with us at the airport as well to hang for a few days before she headed back to the North Island. We picked up our friends, then rented the car from Jucy.

From left to right: Me, Jaime, Lizzy, Emma

FUN FACT #33: You don't have to be 25 years old to rent a car in New Zealand. The required age is 18.


The five of us crammed our stuff into the tiny Nissan Sunny and hit the road. The first stop was Lake Tekapo, which was right off of the main highway. We caught the view right at sunset, and boy was it beautiful.

After stretching our legs for a few minutes, we were back on the road on our way to Hooker Valley at the base of Mt. Cook.

FUN FACT #34: Mt. Cook National Park is New Zealand's Dark Sky Reserve. In this area, there are special lights that are used to keep the night's sky as bright as possible. Here is some of the best star gazing in the world next to remote parts of Africa and Russia.

Jaime, Me, Emma, and Sarah

We got to the campsite and realized that almost everyone there was in campervans. Probably because they recognized that it was FREEZING outside and only idiots would sleep in a tent. We were those idiots. We set up camp, put on every piece of clothing we brought with us, and lay down on the car to look at the most incredible stars.

We cooked our easy mac on our camper stoves inside the tent to keep warm. Emma left the tent and was lucky enough to see a professional photographer taking a photo of our tent at the base of the mountain. She got his facebook name and when we got back, we got to see the picture. Very cool.

Photo of our tent under the stars. Thanks Aaron Campbell!