Lake Tekapo

Kirwin and I cleverly managed to drive while it was raining and stop at our next destination just before the rain caught up with us. Once again we look north at some stormy weather, but here in Tekapo township it is warm and dry. The english translation for Tekapo is roughly night sleeping mat which is perfect for this little township because it is a great stopping point if you are travelling between Christchurch and Mt Cook or Queenstown, which is exactly what most tourists want to do.

Lake Tekapo has spectacular waters the colour of aquamarine due to the glacial silt that stays suspended in them. It lies in the heart of the McKenzie Basin, which has the odd quirk of being quite dry even though it is surrounded by mountains. Those same westerly winds we mentioned in relation to Cook Strait also come crashing into the Southern Alps, elevate and condense causing a lot of rainfall on the West Coast and snow on the Southern Alps. By the time they are over McKenzie country, they've little left to give, making the basin quite arid. However the glacial fed lakes in the region (like Tekapo) provide plenty of water to drive hydro-electric power stations and the canal system between the lakes creates a perfect environment for growing salmon.

Tekapo is located beside Mt John which in 2009 will become the first ever World Heritage Starlight Reserve. The Mount John Observatory is a joint venture between three NZ universities and one in Japan. Kirwin had wanted to spend a couple of hours stargazing there on the night of 16-Dec-2008 but cloudy weather put a stop to that part of his adventure. You can just make out the white dome of the observatory atop Mt John in this picture.

Sheep farming was the first industry to open up the McKenzie region and Tekapo has two well-known sites to honour that past: the Church of the Good Shepherd, and a bronze statue recognising the contribution of the good old sheepdog. Behind the stone chapel's altar are windows with jaw-dropping views of the lake and mountains beyond. Who needs stained glass when you have a place as beautiful as Tekapo right out the window? Kirwin reckons the windows are there to help take your mind off boring sermons.

The pretty pink and purple flowers are lupins. They're the scourge of a farmer's life because stock will not eat them. Early British settlers brought seeds to NZ so they could grow things to remind themselves of home. Unfortunately the environment in the McKenzie Basin and Otago (further south) provides the perfect conditions for lupins to grow like weeds along the roadsides. Kirwin says it gives him hayfever.