Lake Tekapo

Hi everyone,

It's Naomi here, writing today's travel diary.

Today we left the windblown town of Hanmer Springs and made our way to Lake Tekapo - we were glad to be on the road again afer being stuck in town for the extra night.

On the way we stopped for breakfast at Pukeko Junction (recommended by a local). It was very nice. One thing we have noticed is that most restaurant/shop owners are extremely friendly. It's a nice change. We've also noticed a lot of irish people here, travellers and workers.

We continued on from breakfast, travelling on the Inland Scenic Route 72, through beautiful countryside and small ski resort towns, many of which were deserted this time of year.The weather was cloudy with some sun, but we were desperate to get some good weather so we could enjoy the rich colours of New Zealand and so Neil could get some great photos. Fortunately, the further we travelled, the better the weather seemed to get. And the further we travelled, the better the scenery seemed to get! Finally we started to see the amazing scenes that you see on calendars. Almost every turn in the road presented us with a stunning panorama. We had to remember to look in the rear and side view mirrors too, as the view was just as amazing.

After many stops on the way and 7 hours from when we left Hanmer Springs, we arrived at Lake Tekapo. It is a brilliant turquoise blue glacial lake with a small town nestled at the end of the lake. The wind was fairly brisk today, so it was actually causing waves on the lake, and as you will see from one of the photos, it almost looks like a beach with mountains behind. There are many beautiful flowers surrounding the lake including the famous pink and purple lupins.

We checked into our hotel room at Lake Tekapo Scenic Resort, which has an amazing open view of the lake and mountains, and then went to explore the area, making the most of the brilliant blue skies and the late sunset. The sun didn't set until about 8.45pm. We drove up to Mt. John Observatory, which has unsurpassed views of the whole lake and mountain ranges, just gorgeous. After that, we drove to the Church of the Good Shepherd to take photos of it in the golden afternoon light. Very cute little building and very popular with photographers. After sunset, we had a late dinner and came back to our room for a rest. Neil has now gone out again at 10.30pm to take some astro photos. It is freezing out there! So I thought I'd write the blog whilst watching crappy tv and my underwear dry in front of the small heater, hoping it will be dry by morning!

A few other observations of NZ that I thought I'd mention.

- Every menu seems to have at least one dish with kumera in it
- They put sunflower seeds in their side salads
- Every hotel we have stayed in uses Dilmah tea
- Pizzas are extremely expensive - average $20 small/$28 large
- Most hotels have heated towel rails - nice!
- There are hardly any 60km zones - its just 50km or 70km
- All the restaurants we've been into only play cover albums! Rod Stewart sings Foreigner.
- More to come.

Time for bed.
Love Nomi and Neil xxxxx