Happy Thanksgiving all. I have decided that a sweeping view of The Remarkables more than compensates for the lack of mashed potatoes and green bean casserole in my belly today. After hanging out with the seals and grabbing some caffeine, we left Kaikoura and hit the road. Driving
from the Northeast, there were thousands of sheep, a handful of one-way bridges, $5 peonies in every small town and enough scenic lookouts to keep us in awe.
Like any road trip, construction, bathroom breaks and getting stuck behind semis full of sheep hindered our driving time; though, we remained confident that we could reach Lake Tepako and Lake Pukaki before sunset. In the spirit of New Zealand, we picked up a hitch hiker just outside of Geraldine, who had worked his way down from Auckland. He said he had been there for a year “studying fish”. Within two minutes of meeting the adventurous Kiwi, we learned that he wanted breed eels. We didn’t doubt him, but his career aspirations seemed peculiar to us, so we drilled him with questions. 30km of open road later, we had learned “heaps” about the lifespan of an eel, their mating cycles and why breeding them could be necessary and lucrative. Just as we began discussing the New Zealand waterways we approached Lake Tepako and had to let the hiker on his way.
Tepako was beautiful, though I have to say the highlight of my evening involved wine, kumara, crackers, a sunset near Lake Pukaki and amazing 
views of Mt. Cook. Not too shabby. Post picnic and post sunset, we kept on. As we neared Queenstown we were too tired to pitch a tent and decided to camp out in the car for the evening. Despite a slight break-in attempt and the uncomfortable feeling of seatbelts lodged in our backs while sleeping, it suited us pretty well.
The sun woke us at 8AM, we found a restroom, brushed our nasty teeth and darted towards Lake Wakatipu for a morning trek. I am not sure what the rest of the day has in store, but I do know that it won’t involve turkey or a sleep coma.
Day 9,534. Back to Auckland tomorrow.
Cherrettie
from the Northeast, there were thousands of sheep, a handful of one-way bridges, $5 peonies in every small town and enough scenic lookouts to keep us in awe.
views of Mt. Cook. Not too shabby. Post picnic and post sunset, we kept on. As we neared Queenstown we were too tired to pitch a tent and decided to camp out in the car for the evening. Despite a slight break-in attempt and the uncomfortable feeling of seatbelts lodged in our backs while sleeping, it suited us pretty well. 
Forever Paisley 
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