Lake Tekapo en route to Queenstown, New Zealand

On Sunday, we rented a car (Toyota Corolla) to get from Christchurch to Queenstown, known widely as "the Adventure Capital of the world." (And yes, we drove on the wrong side of the road the whole way!) The drive to Queenstown is about 7 1/2 hours so we split the drive in half by staying overnight in a tiny vacation town called Lake Tekapo (teek-ka-poo).

Lake Tekapo is a beautiful and remote place, with a turquoise lake overshadowed by rolling hills and the Southern Alps mountains. The lake is turquoise as a result of "rock flour" (sediment) in the water's basin, which originated from a stony-bottomed glacier way back when. It's a photographer's paradise.

After a morning hike up nearby Mt John to scope the view and the famous observatory, passing lots of sheep along the way, we hopped back in the trusty Corolla and drove the remaining few hours to Queenstown. Queenstown is one of New Zealand's premier tourist spots, and, by checking our these photos (below), it's easy to see why. We'll be here for the next few days soaking it up.