I was not in much of a rush to wake up this morning, as I planned to just see a few things in Christchurch before hitting the road. I set an alarm for 8:30am but was woken up by everyone else in my room waking up even earlier than that: it seems they did not plan on sticking around for long either, as all of them took all their belongings with them. My plan for the morning was to just explore central Christchurch before heading to the Art Gallery, which didn't open until 10am. I parked near the Art Gallery and got a flat white from Lux Espresso, a cute cafe down the street, before heading to the Riverside Market Area. Located next to the Avon River, Riverside Market is a cute area with shops and a food court reminiscent of the Food Market at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town: basically an up-market food court. When I weas there, not much was open. I got an Almond Croissant at a bakery called Bellbird inside the market.

I then headed back to the Art Gallery. The Christchurch Art Gallery is not terribly big but it is free to enter which is nice. It seems that most of the exhibits inside of the gallery were temporary or rotating exhibits. On the ground floor there were some provocative works regarding the British Colonization of New Zealand, and on the top floor there were galleries depicting famous New Zealand artists, and a large gallery with a variety of New Zealand artists focused mainly on the topic of feminism.

The exterior of the museum is very cool as well, with a nice collection of wall art and sculptures.

After exploring the art gallery for a bit I headed back to my car and drove to Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, on the north side of Christchurch. The reserve is separated into three sections. The first section is basically just a zoo, with a variety of animals that as far as I can tell are not all native to or found commonly in New Zealand, such as the capybara, but also some animals that are found in New Zealand, like a wallaby. The second section is designed to be like a New Zealand farm with animals that would commonly have been found on local farms in the past. The third section was the most interesting because it contained animals that are all native to New Zealand like the Kea (a type of parrot) and the Kiwi, the national animal of New Zealand. The kiwi is the greatest attraction, but they are nocturnal, so there is a dark room where there are kiwi with flipped day/night cycles. It is a big room with only four kiwi and incredibly dark, so they are difficult to spot, and it seemed like most visitors just walked through without spotting one. I was able to see two but it took twenty minutes to find one close enough to photograph.

After the wildlife park I headed to the New Zealand Air Force Museum, located on the west side of Christchurch. The museum is free to enter and houses a very nice collection of planes spanning the history of the New Zealand Air Force, and a gallery telling the history of the air force and showcasing various artifacts. The New Zealand Air Force dates back to around World War I, so there were planes spanning from World War I until modern day on display.

After the Air Force Museum it was time to hit the road, as I had 3 hours of driving ahead of me. I decided that instead of continuing to follow State Highway 1 I would take the Inland Scenic Route 72 for the first part of my drive, as it would take me through Rakaia Gorge where I could briefly explore. The scenery was well worth it, and the detour only added 20 minutes to the drive time.

Around 5:30pm I arrived at Lake Tekapo where I would be spending the night. Lake Tekapo is sometimes called the bluest lake in New Zealand, with its blue color caused by glacial silt that is present in the snow that melts and feeds the rivers that eventually feed the lake. The town is also located inside of Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, which means there was a possibility of some fantastic stargazing if I could stay up late enough, and if the sky was clear enough. I checked into a YHA Hostel right near the lake shore, which was the most modern and nice accommodation I had stayed in up to that point. Shortly after checking in, someone set off the fire alarm in the kitchen, and we had to go outside while the firemen came. They knew it was no big deal, and so they joked around with people outside before heading in.

There was not a huge selection of food in Lake Tekapo, so I bought some margherita pizza from a food truck and enjoyed it standing next to my car. I got some serious Camp Michigania vibes being on the hill right in front of this big beautiful lake. While eating, a flock of black-billed gulls came up and started squawking loudly as if to ask for food, which was a bit irritating (they are quite obnoxious!)

After eating I took some time to walk near the lake. There is a pedestrian bridge that crosses a small outlet of the lake, and a cute little church on the other side, right above the shore.

I went back inside to relax before sunset. I planned to go back outside at 9:30pm when a local guy named Billy the Bard had advertised he would come and lead a storytelling, poetry, and stargazing session. He arrived on time driving a van, blasting bagpipe music on a bluetooth speaker, and stepped out wearing a full kilt. He started a fire in a trash bin by burning a big pile of pinecones, and it was time to begin.

Billy pointed out that Mars and Jupiter were both visible in the twilight, and then he picked nine participants from the audience, and handed them balls that represented each planet, including Pluto (in some cases he did not have an appropriate ball so he handed them a marshmallow on a stick instead). Then, he had them all stand and dance around as if they were orbiting him, the sun, while he played a drum. It was very chaotic and funny.

Next, while waiting for it to get darker, he taught us some short Te Reo Maori (Maori Language) poems, one to welcome in Jupiter, and one to welcome in Mars. He also shared two local legends, one about how the low clouds formed in the valley between mountains (it had to do with a witch who was preventing a princess from finding suitors), and another about why rivers flow (it had to do with a monster who was turned blind by the gods after angering them).

Finally, there was just enough break in the clouds to see a couple of constellations. We were able to see the southern cross and Orion's belt. We concluded after about an hour because it was so cloudy and still a little bright. Around 11:30pm when it was finally dark enough to stargaze, I went back outside, but the sky was fully cloud covered still. I called it a night then because I had to wake up early the next morning.