23 March 2025
Our drive from Lake Tekapo to Christchurch was the last leg of our 11 days road trip around the South Island of New Zealand. We took the direct route, via State Highway 8, 79 and 1, which was about 225 km long. The drive should take about 3 hours without stopping but we planned to stop at a few places along the way.
We left Lake Tekapo at about 10 AM after a short walk by Lake Tekapo in the morning. Our original plan was to drive up to Mt John Observatory but we aborted that plan. By now, we already had our fill of views of the blue lakes and hazy mountains and we preferred to have more time to explore Christchurch upon arrival.
Burkes Pass
We made a brief stop at the historic village of Burkes Pass, located on State Highway 8 between Lake Tekapoa and Farlie. The village is about 21 km from Tekapo and it was a nice stop for photos.
Stepping into Burkes Pass was like a step back in time.
Burkes Pass village.
A “must visit” is the general store named Three Creeks, where retro collectables, artwork and furniture could be found. The store is also surrounded by classic cars, a 1950’s service station and memorabilia.
Souvenir hunters outside the Three Creeks store.
1950’s era service station.
Interesting toy cars that my grandson would love.
Couple of old pals. If only they could talk like in the CARS movie.
Besides the interesting Three Creek Store, there is also a historic church thought to be the oldest union church in New Zealand.
Historic St Patrick's Church. St Patrick’s Church, built by the early pioneers in 1872.
Farlie Bakehouse
From Burkes Pass, it was only a 15 minutes drive to Farlie. We came to this town specially to eat the gourmet meat pies from Fairlie Bakehouse.
The bakery is most famous for producing popular varieties include salmon and bacon, venison and cranberry, and steak. Their most popular variety is a pork belly and apple sauce pie, with a piece of crackling on the top.
Menu at Farlie Bakehouse.
There is always a queue but it moves fast. We only waited for a few minutes as there were many servers taking order and the pies were pre cooked. There are options to eat in or take away and we chose to eat in.
Gourmet meat pies from Farlie Bakehouse.
We ordered the Indian-style butter chicken, pork belly with crispy rind on top of the crust and the ultimate steak with cheese, pepper and mushroom.
The tasty pies are full of meat and are value for money. No wonder there is always a queue. The bakery serves excellent coffee too. Pie stuffed with delicious meat and other fillings.
After our lunch, we bought some NZ chocolates and stuff to bring home from the grocery store in Farlie. Farlie is also a good place to top up fuel for the car. Petrol seems to be cheaper in the smaller towns like Farlie compared to Wanaka, Queenstown or Christchurch.
From Farlie, the drive on Highway 79 and Highway 1 to Ashburton (our next stop) was mostly uneventful and not so interesting. For me, I thought the farming equipment used by the local farmers to water the crops was quite interesting and I managed to snap a photo from the moving car.
Equipment used for watering the crops.
Farmer’s Corner at Ashburton
Farmer’s Corner is located just outside Ashburton and it was a good place for a pit stop. There are nice and clean bathrooms, a souvenir store selling local farm products like honey. At the back, there are lavender fields, a flower garden and alpaca feeding pen.
The Plains Vintage Railway & Historical Museum at Ashburton
While at Farmer’s Corner, I did some research for attractions in Ashburton and found what looked like an interesting place with vintage trains and working steam engines offering rides on weekends.
We decided to go check it out since our grandson is crazy over steam trains.
Working steam trains at the Plains Vintage Railway & Historical Museum.
The Plains Vintage Railway & Historical Museum is home to a range of exhibits, including vintage steam locomotives, tractors, farm equipment and stationary engines. Since it was a weekend, this place was quite busy and had a carnival like vibe.
We bought ice cream from a food truck.
We saw a steam or diesel engine pulling three historic passenger carriages out and back on a section of the former railway line. This century-old railway that once transported coal, lime, passengers and general freight.
There were more trains and locomotives on static display.
Bells and whistle on top of the boiler.
We could go on board to view the engine room with the furnace, boiler and coal tender.
Coal tender just behind the locomotive.
Vintage carriages
A shed with many farming equipment like tractors and harvesters.
Spectacular display of working farm machinery.
Having fun on the colourful tractors
Ashburton was our last stop. From there, we took Highway 1 into Christchurch.
Where we stayed in Christchurch
Our accommodation at Christchurch was Argyle On The Park, conveniently located on Deans Avenue near the City Centre overlooking beautiful Hagley Park.
I chose this motel because it is located close to the Christchurch Botanical Gardens and is also possible to walk into the city via the beautiful park just across the road from the place. The motel offers free parking too.
Our plan for the evening was to take an evening walk through Hagley Park into the city for dinner and then return via the Botanical Gardens.
Next post: Our evening at Christchurch