Next day we left early on the bus to go to Lake Tekapo. There was a bit of confusion with the buses - we booked online the day before and it said the journey would take almost 8 hours, which we thought was a long time but didn't think any more of it. Next morning the bus to Christchurch via Tekapo arrived and we weren't on the list which we thought was strange but the driver thought it might be because we didn't book until late the night before so he put us on his list. Then we arrived in Tekapo about 4 hours early! Turns out we got on the wrong bus and the one we were booked on would have taken 8 hours as it went via Mt Cook. So as the ticketing system for the bus company we were booked with works on an hourly basis we were overcharged by about 4 hours! Luckily we got those hours back so we have enough time to get all the way to Auckland!!! (Hope you took all that in!!)

Once in Tekapo we walked to the campsite and pitched our tent with amazing views over the lake. We went back into the town (consisting of one road!) and had lunch before meeting the brother of one of Sam's Mum's friends who very kindly took us on a tour of all the local sights, including the little church on the side of the lake, Mt John with amazing views over the lake, and a point on the lake's shore where the boys had to help a family who got their Mercedes 4x4 stuck in the stones!!! After that we went to the one bar in the town for a beer or 2 and then went back to the campsite for the night.

Next morning we packed up and walked back into town to get the bus back to Christchurch. We stayed in the same hostel that we did the first time around, and had an 'Indian' themed night by going out for a curry and then going to the cinema to see 'Slumdog Millionaire'. That film was amazing and so well done, if any of you haven't seen it, make sure you do!!!!