Twizel, Geraldine, Christchurch New Zealand, February 18, 2023

The long drive from Queenstown to Christchurch, 482 km (300 mi), which took about six hours on the New Zealand two-lane, 55mph highways, including stops for food and stretching the legs in new towns.  But I’m not complaining, at a much slower pace you experience the landscape much more intimately than when traveling at 90 mph in an endless line of Joeys all doing the same, as is the case when driving the interstate in Utah. Kiwis are more relaxed than Americans in general, a good thing, and that translates to much more relaxed traveling when on the road. 

We drove from Queenstown to Twizel, where we stopped for lunch. Twizel is the gateway to Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park. From Twizel it was back on the road for more long hours of driving, but we stopped in Geraldine, at the city cemetery of all places, to rest and stretch our legs, which strangely was one of the sweet, unexpected  highlights of of our trip. From Geraldine it was another hour to our hotel in Christchurch. Once settled in the hotel we walked the backyard nature trails through the Papanui area that evening. The next morning was a quick flight to Aukland and the North Island. 

The scenery was very Nevada-ish between Queenstown and Twizel. Dry, cheat-grass covered hills and low mountains standing above huge lakes, not that Nevada has huge lakes, but otherwise it could be the western USA. The slow, easy driving, another departure from life in the USA, made the trip relaxed and enjoyable.   

Lunch in Twizel.

Twizel playground, which could pass for any small town in Utah, except for the massive, glacier covered mountains just 20 miles off to the west.  

We didn‘t plan it, but when driving through Geraldine and ready for a break from the road, Kara spots the city cemetery so we go walking, and walking the cemetery and reading headstones was a hidden splendor.

Backyard nature trails through the Papanui area of Christchurch, it did not feel like we were in a huge city, and another unexpected gem before heading to the North Island.