Rosie and The Operator only had an hour to travel today, we had a nice lie in, filled the camper with fresh water and diesel and did our Christmas grocery shop….it was the smallest shop ever and felt quite liberating! The day was a little cool and overcast but the lady at the information centre said Tekapo was beautiful and clear…..she even showed us the live stream webcam.
http://www.tekapotourism.co.nz/webcam.html Hard to believe an hour down the road could be so different to here where it was overcast and cloudy with never a mountain top to be seen.
Welcome to the Mackenzie Country! The green rolling pastures are back, dairy cows and sheep roam the fields, the huge irrigators are infrequent as the grass has a little bit of natural green to it. The houses are sparse but everyone here has a fantastic view!
Driving through Fairlie in the main street is the statue of James ‘Jock’ Mackenzie and his faithful sheepdog Friday, whom the area is named after. Jock was a big red haired and bearded Scotsman whom in the 1840s was infamous for rustling sheep from farmers and driving them deep into the hilly large expanse of unsettled countryside now known as the Mackenzie Country and claiming them as his own. He was caught and tried and the local farmers then realised how useful the unused land was for farming. Cool story. Every creek or river or gully you pass has a name “Freds Creek’, Lucys Gorge’ referring (maybe) to some pioneer story that I hope is not forgotten, Rosie would certainly love to hear the tales!
Fairlie is known as the Gateway to the Mackenzie Country’….it was deceptive, cause as we got closer to Tekapo the area got drier and drier again. The clouds were still low and ominous and then around Bourkes Pass we went and all of the clouds were left behind, the ranges and the sky were bright blue and Rosie and The Operator got their first glimpse of the Southern Alps, they were majestic! The range stretched out across the horizon all with little snowy caps left over from winter. Combined with the wild lupins growing on the side of the road in multiple shades of purple it was a glorious sight! Rosie was waiting to turn the corner into Tekapo with baited breath.
And there she be, a huge bright blue lake ringed by mountains and hills, we are in a valley alright and it had a climate of its own, hot, hot, hot. The first thing that gets you is the colour of the water, you have never seen anything like it. The stunning blazing turquoise colour is due to ‘Rock Flour’ sediment in the water. The so called flour was created when the lakes basin was gouged out by a stony bottom glacier moving across the lands surface, the rock on rock, grinding out fine particles that end up being suspended in the glacial melt water. The sediment reflects the light giving the lake its un earthly colour.
This is the Church of the Good Shepherd, it sits on the bank of the lake is THE biggest tourist attraction here, heaps of people were swarming around and there werent even any tour buses parked in the carpark. 
The Church was built out of stone and oak in 1935 and is a favourite for a wedding chapel. Apparently the Asians have embraced it and heaps get married there in the picture postcard setting. Rosie took the last two pictures early in the morning, when there was no one around.
Right next door to the chapel is the statue of a collie dog, a tribute to the sheepdogs that helped develop the Mackenzie country. You can see why the buses stop here en route before either heading to Queenstown or Mt Cook, all the photo ops are within one easy 10 min bus stop!
We drove up to the Tekapo Motor Camp at about 1pm to see if they had a site for the night and hopefully get a lakeview possie. The lakeview sites were all gone but we got the next best, a lovely view from their tiered campsites.
This campground would have had one of the most stunning views we have ever stayed at and would probably be in one of the most well trodden tourist paths in NZ….and the camp was one of the most scruffiest and unkempt we have ever been in and for the 23rd December…there was no Christmas spirit and love to all men being given out by the grumpy camp owners either. The site was $40 per night reduced to $36 with our NZMCA…..the rogue camp owners omitted to tell us on check in that there was a cost of $2 per shower! Outrageous…..what the hell were we paying for! Build a bridge Rosie The Operator said, so before we settled in for the night we went for a drive up to Mt John Observatory and Cafe for a coffee, chilled that was, still so hot, hot, hot.
Rosie cant get over the wildflowers, they were so beautiful and pretty, so sweet and stinky though when you stood amongst them. Aaa aaa aaa tisssshhhhoooo! The buzzing from the hundreds of bees was so loud, then The Operator pointed out the beehives 10 metres away, Rosie quick stepped it out of that field swatting furiously.
The poor old camper was in overdrive as we wound higher and higher up the narrow road that led to the observatory.
The view from the top was astounding, a full 360 degree view of….everything. From the empty arid moonscape plains of the Mackenzie to the darker waters of Lake Alexandria and the township of Tekapo. There are various walks around this mount if you are so inclined and you could even walk back to town from there they reckoned in 30 mins….yeah right, maybe sitting on a real estate sign and sliding your way down…..
From the dusty carpark you walk up to the Astro cafe and Observatory area, nearly everyone is welcome.
This cafe has THE BEST VIEW IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!!!! A large concrete area has outdoor seating and there was just the lightest of breezes to take the edge off the heat of the mid afternoon and I must say Rosie and the Operator did linger over their iced coffees, it was so beautiful!
Above is the township of Tekapo, it looks so tiny
And didnt I say it was all about the lake! There would have been about 6 boats buzzing around, none anywhere near the other, each well and truly had their own play space!
The Observatory has four viewing domes up on the Mount, because of the atmospheric conditions in this valley they reckon that it is one of the best night time astronomy viewing areas in the world due to the clarity of the universe and the 360 degree view…sounds amazing. Rosie peeped out of the camper window that night at about 3am and was blinded by a streetlight in the campground, didnt see one star. The drive down from the observatory was as hair raising as going up. We parked back at our camp site and carried our chairs down to the sandy lakeshore.
Rosie read in the sun and could feel her pale porkies sizzling in the heat even though she was lathered in sunscreen….The Operator decided to brave the lakes icy water and headed for the shoreline. He went in, ducked down and was still fighting for breathe when he got back to Rosie, it was freezing, about 8c he reckoned. Fine effort Operator! 
Tomorrow we are packing out early and heading to Aoraki/Mt Cook, then onto Queenstown where we are planning on bunking in for Christmas.
