South Island – Tekapo…Its all about the Lake

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. 

 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.

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!

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!