Day 17
Summary: Walked to the Church of the Good Shepherd, drove up to the Mount John Observatory, drove to Twizel
Saturday, January 18th
The only item on our agenda for this day was drive to our next location, 45 minutes away. One of our friends who had visited New Zealand a few years ago had said Lake Tekapo was their favorite place, so I made sure to allot plenty of time to take in the views.
We hung out in the sun on our balcony while looking out at the lake and mountains before packing up and dropping the key off at the rental office. Normally for breakfast on this trip, we ate one of the granola bars we stocked up on at the grocery stores. But when looking up places to eat, I came across The Greedy Cow and I wanted to give it a try. Greg had avocado mushroom toast and a coffee while I had amazing eggs on toast and an “iced chocolate”. It was basically really cold Hershey’s syrup chocolate milk, but I enjoyed it. It was so strong it tasted as if they dripped Hershey’s syrup down the straw, which, if that wasn’t the case, is kind of a cool idea!
Notice how the table number is an ear tag!
We browsed a few of the shops for some souvenirs and gifts. Then, we stocked up at the grocery store on more food for breakfasts and hiking snacks, such as apples, granola bars, and more Tim Tams (those were for dessert)!
Next, we walked across a bridge over to The Church of the Good Shepherd. It is a tiny stone church that looks super old but was actually only built in 1935! There were no photos allowed inside the church, but being that it was built right on the lakeshore, you can imagine its spectacular view!
Nearby, there is a statue honoring the herding dogs that made sheep keeping and pioneering in this area possible. Plus, who doesn’t love an excuse to honor dogs with a statue?
This area of New Zealand is covered in lupine flowers. Lupine is actually labeled as an invasive species here, but it sure adds beauty to an already beautiful landscape! On our way into Lake Tekapo the day before, we had passed a field full of them so we stopped by on this day to take some photos (along with a bunch of other people that you strategically can’t see in the frame).
We drove up the hill to the Mount John Observatory and took in the views of the lake from up there. At the top, there was a cafe and a bunch of telescope buildings that we weren’t allowed to enter. At night, they host stargazing events, but it was a bit pricey so we opted out.
You can see in the panoramic photo how localized the development is around these lakes, something I noticed at multiple lakes in New Zealand. Instead of building up all around the shore, all of the restaurants and housing are sequestered to one area. Some lakes don’t offer a choice: the sheer cliffsides of the mountains descend straight into the lake. In places like Lake Tekapo, I wonder if there are some regulations about where you could build, and if land around the lake is protected. Or maybe there is only enough tourism to warrant building in one spot, who knows! What I like about it is that when you view the lake from the developed area, your view is unspoiled. There aren’t any houses along the shore, so it looks as if you just happened upon a huge lake in the middle of nowhere, which I supposed someone did a long time ago!
We relaxed in the sun and had little fizzy drinks at the cafe before driving 45 minutes to Twizel, our next destination.
We stopped along the way to view Lake Pukaki, another strikingly blue lake, that was so beautiful with the snowy mountains in the background.
We made it to our cute Airbnb and chatted with the host for a bit before settling in. We told him we were in the area to hike in Mount Cook National Park, so he recommended a few hikes there.
Since this location was the start of our final week, I had asked ahead about the laundry availability on their listing. It was so convenient that they had a small washing machine, detergent, and drying rack at hand. It was fairly breezy, so our clothes dried pretty quickly in the sun. Over the course of the trip, we did laundry three times, which was very helpful.
We drove into the small town and ordered some food to-go at an Indian restaurant called Fishtail. While we waited, we went to the grocery store next door to find something to go with the fresh eggs the hosts provided in the fridge from their chickens. Such a nice touch! We were thinking of getting bread and cheese and putting the eggs on toast, but we didn’t want to waste a whole pack of cheese. Then we passed by a bakery rack and saw cheesy bread! Problem solved.
We brought our dinner back to the Airbnb and ate at the kitchen island while watching The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (extended edition) on my computer. Then we discovered the TV had an HDMI port, we found a cable in a drawer, and were able to plug my computer in and watch it from the couch. It was fun to watch the movies while we were in New Zealand. We only watched a bit at a time over the next few days because they are so long. Plus we were there to enjoy it in person; we can watch the movie anytime.
Thanks for reading!
-Rebecca
Flourish & Blogs 