Hitchhiking in New Zealand: Queenstown to Lake Tekapo

Hitchhiking in New Zealand: Queenstown to Lake Tekapo

10th of July, 2025.

So many cars coming and still takes some time for someone to stop. What’s going on with New Zealand? It was supposed to be easier to hitchhike here. It happens, but it’s taking way longer than I expected. At this rate, I can say with certainty that it was easier to hitchhike in Russia, South Korea and Japan than in New Zealand. That’s odd.

Two cars do stop but they both only going until the next town, Cromwell, so I pass. My sign reads “Lake Pukaki” but that’s not really my intention, well, at least not anymore. When I was coming down to Queenstown and we passed Lake Pukaki, I realized that its smaller neighbor, Lake Tekapo is the actual catch, it looks nicer and it has a village around of it; while Lake Pukaki is just a massive lake surrounded by nothing.

Freyman stops for me. He’s from China. Surprise, surprise. After waiting for a long time, with loads of cars passing, someone from China picks me up in New Zealand. That tells a lot! He’s such a nice guy! He moved to New Zealand about two years ago, with his girlfriend, and he’s working with a tourist company. He’s the driver. He just dropped off some customers in Queenstown so they can catch a flight back to their country.

We stop at Lake Pukaki because Freyman want to by some salmon. The views one the way to Lake Tekapo are amazing! At some point, the reflection on the water is perfect, and it looks exactly like a mirror. It’s beautiful!

I get off in Lake Tekapo soon after 16.00 hundred hours, while Freyman will keep on driving to Christchurch, where he lives.

There are many people around. I take a look at the lake, but there’s very little light for good photos. It’s full moon tonight and it looks gorgeous! I ask for leftovers in a fancy restaurant, and the nice manager tells me I can come later, by their closing time. And when I’m leaving she even gives me a package of biscuits. They are great and super healthy!

I come by the Community Hall but it’s closed. Behind it, there’s a big covered balcony, so I consider camping in here if I cannot find anything else. It’s very difficult to know in which houses to knock and ask for shelter because being Lake Tekapo such a touristy destination, there are a lot of home stay and Airbnb places. How to know where the locals live? There’s even this nice guy with whom I talk when he’s playing with his kids outside a house, but then he tells me it’s actually a backpackers. What? Yeah, apparently nowadays families with kids also stay in “backpackers”. Go figure!

I ask in the gas station about a church. A couple with Asian features tell me that the only church is the one by the lake, which is simply the landmark for photographs in Lake Tekapo. It’s this tiny little stone building, gorgeous, but I’m guessing I cannot sleep there tonight. I could’ve asked this couple but even though they seemed nice, I had a feeling that it wouldn’t work.

I even come back to the backpacker’s place, and talk with a lovely Japanese young lady working there. She try to help me by asking the owner if I could sleep in the living room, or camp in the backyard and borrow a blanket, but she says no. New Zealand.

So I go back to the Community Hall and pitch my tent in their balcony. The full moon is brightening light everywhere. I hope nobody sees me.

I go back to the town to collect my leftovers. I sit in a bench outside another shop and eat there. They gave me a stew with lots of vegetables and a big peace of meat. What to do, I eat it all.

I wear almost everything I have so I don’t feel so cold at night.