We stay roughly 3 days in Christchurch, but we did not make for it much, especially many internet, and any rest! It’s good torest a little after this month of rather extensive journey. For our last two nights, we thus went to the lad of couch surfing who accepts us friendly in the last minute. His apartment is rather outstanding: he lives in a factory! More exactly, he has a room to him separated from the factory, but otherwise, the kitchen and the "bathroom" are mixed with machines. Unusual! We put of time picking up the bathtub in all this … It is very rudimentary: a bathtub paused on the ground in the middle of machines, no walls or of curtains … A little bit puzzling. Finally, the lad is very nice, we discuss well with him, he teaches us a new game of card, " yani ".

Other than that, during these 2-3 days, we visit a little the city and we search for our souvenirs of New Zealand because we again bought nothing. We also say goodbye in our expensive car which helped well us these last weeks! Not much of the other one to indicate for these a few days …

Sunday, February 2nd. At nights in the car, it is finished!! Before visiting a little the peninsula, we return to Akaroa for our small morning toilet. As usual, the weather is not very beautiful this morning. We do not know too much what to visit in the peninsula; it is a succession of beaches or bays, then we choose one a little bit at random. It left for the bay Okains. We pass by a mountain pass, where from we do not see much. It is quite white … That made for a long time! We come down all the same up to the bay, on a not tarred road (we begin to be used!). Well, we are not going to make the blasé persons, but it is a bay as the others! There is a small cave in the rock but we do not dare to venture too much there, there are hundreds of bats which fly everywhere! We quickly leave, it is not warm … We take a stand of it "tourist road ". It is not really in better state than the others ^^ And then there that does not serve in much to take roads which pass by the summit, because anyway we see nothing. Just at the end, when we begin to come down, we perceive just a little the coast; but it is not easy!

We drive then quietly until Christchurch, where we arrive approximately 2 hours later. Very big city!!! We do not want to waste our time looking for a parking lot in town, then we are going to settle on the parking lot of the supermarket New World. It is the big moment to tidy up the car … And yes, in 3 almost weeks, we put it of the general mess in there! That takes us a good moment, to try to accommodate a maximum in bags. The rest, in the hand … After that, we are going to settle in the shopping gallery of New world to eat and make a little of the computer. And then we leave in the direction of the city to visit a little. We go up to the center, then we stay one moment in a cybercafé to make the most important things. We take back then the car to go to the host's of couch surfing. Arrived in front of to him, we knock at the door but nobody answers. Nevertheless it is strange, the door is opened … As a result, we wait a little then we see a kind of campervan comeback to the house. So we return to it. There are two guys, we ask them who is our host, but in fact are only two friends who came to take some stuff. Strange.

In fact, they explain us that our host is on holidays but that if we want, we can stay in the apartment because the door always remains opened. We make a small fast tour in the apartment; it is very dirty, there is that 2 mattresses which already are to use by the other persons … Then we thank friendly and we leave. What we make now?? We write in other couch surfers who had suggested us sleeping at home. The first one already has a couple, and the second does not answer … It is necessary to make a decision: we can sleep last time in the car but we have no comfort (and we begin to need a shower!), we return to the apartment of the lad (but it is very dirty all the same), or we offer ourselves one night in an inn … We eventually choose the comfort. We try to find a not too expensive inn. 10 minutes having reserved our room, the lad who had not answered has our message answers us exactly by saying that we can sleep at him. Unfortunately we have already paid … We are going to ask the reception if it is possible to cancel, but regrettably it is not possible. We are little disgusted not to have waited longer … Too bad, we settle down in our room and we spend the evening in the inn.

Monday, February 1st. No comments on this night, to part when it was particularly cold, and thus we have slept even less good no than other nights in the car. But it is not grave! We go back by Tekapo to wash itself in public restroom and take some photos of the lake, then we leave direction Christchurch. Finally more exactly, we go to the peninsula close to Christchurch, conscript Banks Peninsula. We stop along the way to eat then we arrive finally at the peninsula Banks. We arrive of at the top, we still have there a very beautiful view. We go to a village called Akaroa, who is "French" village. Let us say that there are still streets and houses with French names. This city was occupied for a long time by the French colonizers.

 Well, it doesn't necessarily mean that they speak French here!! We make a small tour of the village for feet, but it is rather fast, there is only a main street. We spend then the afternoon to rest, to make internet. Then for night, we go away a few from the village because as usual, all the parking lots are forbidden the campsite. We have difficulty in finding a place where settle with the car, then finally we find a small space by the roadside. It is not top, but we make with! Having food in front of a movie, we go to bed, for what has to be our last night in the car!

Sunday, January 31st. When we get up this morning, the house is again quite put to sleep. The guys went out in town the day before, they have of return good late! Having tidied up our stuff, we thus leave discreetly not to wake them, by leaving them a small word. Today, we leave for the lake Tekapo, renowned for its beauty. We turn off westward on the road 83 at the level of Oamaru to go to the mountain range Southern Alps, on the other side this time. The road crosses by Waitaki Valley, with as usual, various places to be visited. We stop at first in "Elephant Rocks". It is rocks which were dug before by the river and now by the wind and the rain. It is funny, they are all round off, and that makes a surprising landscape. We picnic here, by trying to see where hides the elephant. We do not see it! We have a small break then in "rock Maori paintings ", a small cave where there are drawings made by the Maori there are several hundreds of years. As for several days, the sky gets free during the day, maintaining, the weather is beautiful. The road passes by several lakes, we do not grow tired of these magnificent landscapes.

Having driven well, we arrive on a first lake, a lake Pukaki. It has a very particular clear color, a blue, and opaque. With the mountain range in bottom, it is magnificent. There are regrettably clouds which prevent us from seeing the mountain Cook, the highest mountain of NZ (3670 meters). We perceive only a quite small end of the summit, quite covered with snow. On the road for the lake Tekapo, we take hitch-hiker, American. Once arrived at Tekapo (only some houses which align themselves: restaurants, souvenir shops and hotels), we go to the point of view with the American, then we leave him. In the point of view, there is a small chapel, very beautiful with the lake in background. We are going to settle then near the lake. It has the same color as the precedent, but by we are a little disappointed because we do not see the mountain Cook … Finally, even if this lake is magnificent, we preferred the view(sight) since the other one. We take all the same time to contemplate this landscape by settling at the water's edge, with on our right an incredible cloud sea.

Before finding a place where settle with the car, we are going to phone to our family. Regrettably, money are faster produced than planned and we have no time to give a lot of news. We are sorry! The sun begins to go to bed, we go away from the city by car, by going a little to height to hope to find a place not forbids the campsite. We have a beautiful view from here! Finally, we have no time to see the known sunset on the lake, but we find a place where we can sleep. It is a place fitted out for the campsite, without being one! And here we are, it left for a new night in the car.