Stevie's mum and sister flew over for 10 days to see us. So we decided to show them around the South Island.

The arrived on the Friday. We gave them time to catch there breath before we started the tour.

Saturday consisted on Showing them around the CBD to see the earthquake damage, the re:start mall and some street performers. We finished the day heading to Sumner and taking a walk on the beach.

Sunday we took them to the Farmers market, around Riccarton Mall and Stevie's mum cooked us a lovely roast.

Road-Trip : Monday 29th July 13

On Monday the tour headed outside of Christchurch and to Lake Tekapo. The Maori translation 'Teka' Sleeping mat and 'Po' Night.

We took route one then onto route eight, about 3 hours later we finally arrived at Lake Tekapo, the lake sits 710m above sea level. This small town only has a population circa 320.

We headed down to the lake, took some photos and played on the free zip line that sat on the side of the lake. We climbed over the rocks and back to the car to head to the accommodation. It was a nice little wooden cabin that sat on the edge of the lake. The view of the turquoise lake was amazing, framed by snow capped mountains.

The turquoise blue of the lake is created by rock from the glaziers being grind down to a fine dust 'rock flour' on the journey down to the lake, when combined with sunlight it creates the unique turquoise effect that is seen on many New Zealand lakes.

We unpacked and headed to the Snow tubing which was only 5mins walk away. The place was really quiet. Stevie, her sister and I booked an hour slot while her mum took photos. Helmet on head and tube in hand we took the conveyer belt up to the top. Being new to this we took the sensible slow option first. The thill was amazing as we flew down the slope. Before long we became really confident. Going down tandem, laying on our stomach, being spun and going down backwards. We managed to have the slope to ourselves for the first 20minutes.

Cold and excited we headed back main lodge to meet up with Stevie's mum. A quick change later we were ready for the hot springs. The air was freezing. It was a nice shock when we dunked into the springs. There are 3 Springs ranging from 36° to 40°. It was so relaxing. Perfect even. The springs were quiet, hot and relaxing. The snow capped mountains and lake just added to the awesomeness!!! We stayed in there a couple of hours before finally heading back.

After the springs we tried to head up Mount John which was recommended to us by a clerk at service station. Unfortunately we go halve way up when we were stopped by a German lady who said she was locking the gate for the evening. Disappointed we decided to head back up in the morning.

Hungry we headed into town to a quaint little pizzeria. The cozy lodge had the best pizzas. A few drinks later and full. We headed back to the lodge..... It was freezing.

When we got back to the lodge then sky was so clear, Stevie, her sister and I headed down to the lake to watch the stars. The views were amazing, the vastness of the stars spread across the sky to every horizon. Split in half by the clouds of the Milky Way. It was Stunning!

Getting cold we headed back to the lodge. To snug before of trip to Queenstown tomorrow.