Christchurch to Albert Town

Said goodbye to our host Rosie and headed out bound for Fairlie, our midway stop for the night before Albert Town. The weather forecast was for cloud, but no rain, yeah, right! We stopped for a hike at the Rakaia River Gorge. It was about 5K return, the first half uphill, then back downhill. It was drizzly and muddy, but the views were worth it, as always. Ran into a few people on the trail, some well equipped, some in beautiful gleaming white running shoes and white socks, soon to be black, but these too are life’s lessons…

We got to Fairlie around 3:00 pm and checked into the Mackenzie Motel. Self check in, and another old style motel that had been refurbished. Nice private deck out back, comfortable bed, well equipped with fridge, microwave, and utensils. Love these places for a shorter stay. We made our way to the Fairlie Bakehouse to pick up a meat pie to share for dinner, and yes Sarah, it was yummy as was the custard square we shared for dessert!!! We stocked up on some fresh fruit from a local vendor who was having a slow day and had a wickedly dry sense of humour. Good fun for all of us.

The next day was off to Albert Town, about 3 hours south and into the mountains with a few planned stops. First was Lake Tekepo and a short walk along the shore. This is one of the most scenic vistas in New Zealand and well worth the stop. A little further along was Lake Pukaki, with a beautiful view of Mt. Cook. Our third stop was for lunch in Twizel with our friends Helen and Tony from Auckland. Their son Jonathan and partner Kate have a summer place in Twizel and they spend a lot of time there with their daughter Matilda who is btw, cute as button! We had a great catch up and we’ll see more of them in Dunedin in a few weeks as they’re staying in Helen and Tony’s house there while they search for a new place for themselves.

After lunch, it was off to Albert Town Near Lake Wanaka to our AirBnB home for the next 7 days.