Kia Ora! Which means hello or hi in the Maori language (New Zealand's native). Today was quite an interesting day! We got up rather early today to catch the bus that brought us to Lake Tekapo.
6.30am in the morning and we were up and awake, and had breakfast in downstairs in the lounge. Today morning wasn't as cold as yesterday's.
Fridge doors in hostel are always so over decorated.
Packed up after breakfast and checked-out from the hostel and walked to the temporary Intercity terminal at 8am and waited for our coach to leave.
On the way to the bus terminal.
That's our coach that will be bring us to Tekapo. Awesome NZ!
The bus is also awesome because it had a glass roof that allows us to look into the sky!
We were there quite ahead of the departing time so we just waited in the coach for more passengers to board before we leave.
As we waited, clouds started to fill the sky and became gloomy.
Few people were traveling today as the coach was barely filled. The bus runs from Christchurch to Queenstown and bypassing Lake Tekapo but most of the passengers stopped at Lake Tekapo. The 3 and a half hour journey from Christchurch to Lake Tekapo wasn't too eventful. It started raining about 40 minutes into the journey and everywhere was just white and cloudy.
Crossing over a river on a gloomy morning.
Rained quite heavily while we were on the highway.
We made a brief stop at a small town called Geraldine. The nice 6-degree temperature this morning became a rainy and windy minus 2-degree weather. The stop was just 15 minutes long for some refreshment and toilet break and then we were on our way to Lake Tekapo.
Our Awesome NZ coach on the wet road.
Back on the highway to Tekapo again, after our break in Geraldine.
The clouds were really close to the ground.
Snow mountains along the road through the Burkes Pass.
The Burkes Pass route was a scenic road drive with many rolling hills accompanied by snow capped mountains. At the end of the road lies Lake Tekapo, the town by the lake with an impossibly turquoise blue color.
Better weather was seen far ahead!
We reached Tekapo at about 12 noon and we decided to look for lunch first before going to our accommodation for the night in Lake Tekapo. Since the town is small, just over 300 permanent population, looking for food wasn't hard. We found ourselves eating in a cozy wooden-themed restaurant.
The clouds made it look like we were in Mordor!
I liked the interior of the restaurant and how it has a nice blue-orange color.
Had a nice cup of hot tea whilst waiting for our food to come.
The cold and rainy weather was put to an end with the clouds clearing up to a nice blue sky with the warm sun.
Outside the restaurant looking at the lake.
Our accommodation wasn't too far. After a really full lunch, we left and had a short 300-meter walk there. Tailor-Made Backpackers is a homely place with a pair of houses for guests and a spacious garden to hangout.
Sign showing the way to our accommodation. Nope, not the luxury lodge though!
Walking to the reception.
When we reached there, the host was not at the front desk as we found out later that he was at the back tending to his garden. So my brother and I waited outside in the front courtyard which had a nice hammock to relax in. About 15 minutes later, the owner was back and we checked-in. He showed us the way to our room, and also gave us a map and pin-pointed various recommended places to go to.
My brother chilling on the hammock.
Once in our room, we unpacked some of our stuff and decide what we would do to make full use of the day in Lake Tekapo. A few moments later, we concluded that we will climb up to the summit of Mt John (so glad we did that), walked to the other side of the lake where the Church of the Good Sheperd was, going to the grocery store to get some food and cook for our dinner, and lastly out to the lakeside at night to look at the stars (as Lake Tekapo is claimed to have the clearest night sky).
The map of Tekapo with some of his scribbles when he told us about the various to-go places.
Off we went to start our first activity of the day, which is the summit of Mt John. Mt John is a mountain with a summit of 1043 meters above sea level, which is more than 300 meters above Lake Tekapo. The start of the track is near the southwest end of the lake, about a 30-minute quick walk until an ice skating rink. Then the signboard indicating the start of the track was in sight. We walked towards it and began the walk.
The mountain on the right is where we were headed to.
The sign indicating the start of the track.
It was a steady climb, and at some points steep, through a larch forest for about three quarters of the track, and then exiting to a large tussock plain. It became less steep but was really windy from the lack of trees, moreover it is at a higher altitude which is more prone to stronger winds.
My brother climbing a steep slope.
My watch showing the temperature. Just the perfect temperature to be walking in without getting too sweaty!
The path here was quite steep which had a rewarding view from an opening at the end of the steep path.
A glimpse of what the view from the summit had to offer!
Continuing up the track with the lake behind.
My brother exiting the forest into the open field of tussocks.
My brother and I on the way up Mt John.
Nearing the summit (the rocky cliffs).
A long but gentle flight of stairs to help walking up easier.
We're almost there! Just a few meters more to the top, where the chair is!
The end of lake Tekapo from the top of Mt John.
At the top surrounded by Middle Earth-like scenery.
My brother took this picture of me (with a nice backlight around my head!).
Lake Tekapo township at the end of the turquoise blue lake.
Mt John observatory among some buildings and a cafe.
After admiring the fantastic views of what seemed like Middle Earth, we went back down a little from the summit to the Mt John observatory where we had coffee from Astro Cafe. I finished my last few shots of my film roll and changed to a new one up there. I also asked a tourist to take a picture of both myself and my brother with my film camera and am anxious of how it'd turn out as it was all manual and no preview!
Just a cup of coffee with a view!
The snow capped southern alps of New Zealand provided a picturesque backdrop.
My brother taking some pictures of the lake which is just so blue as if it was a painting.
It was getting late and we headed down quickly as we wanted to get to the lake side before sunset. Our way down was a much faster than our way up and so we reached down pretty early, ahead of our planned time.
This view just looks like it had to be a scene from The Lord of the Rings.
On the way back down to the town.
Back at the lake side.
Since we were early, we walked slowly to the other side of the lake, crossing the bridge over Tekapo river. It is also where the Church of the Good Sheperd is located. It is a small church made up of stone and oak in 1935. It was closed when we were there though.
Crossing over Tekapo river.
The Church of the Good Sheperd.
The reflection of the lake from the glass window at the back of the church.
I was expecting a good sunset as the sky was great when we were up at Mt John earlier. But the weather changed so adversely that it became all cloudy and gloomy when we reached the side of the lake. So the sky wasn't too good anymore and it didn't get better as the clouds started building up quickly.
The good weather seem to be short-lived. Just moments later the blue sky became overwhelmed by clouds.
We went to have a look at the statue of a coolie dog. It is a tribute to the sheepdogs, that were used in the past, for grazing to help develop the Mackenzie Country. This status serves as a form of remembrance of the hard work of the dogs.
The dog statue.
The church again, in a totally changed sky, only a short time after I took a picture earlier.
We left for the grocery store to get some food to cook for dinner. We walked round the store once first before deciding what to buy, and found out that there isn't any raw meat to be found. So we got a pre-made Ravioli with beef fillings inside. We also got some sliced ham and a bottle of tomato and basil sauce for our pasta. Finally we bought some salad.
Back at our accommodation, we entered the kitchen and were welcomed to a nice smell. There were other travellers cooking too and really smelled great. We started preparing our dinner and cooking them. Ours smelled as good too, but unfortunately it didn't look as nice. But it tasted great! And most importantly it did fill our stomach.
After our stomach were satisfied from our self-cooked dinner, we prepared to head out to the lake side to have a look at the night sky. The temperature fell fast and it was soon near freezing temperature. We dressed up warmly and headed out. The lake side was almost pitch black albeit the light from the town behind us. We used a flashlight to guide us.
We could see the galaxy from the lake side.
The clouds came in and blocked the stars so we left and went back.
It became cloudy that night and the sky wasn't completely clear. It is claimed that Tekapo had the clearest night sky, but apparently it wasn't so when we were there. Guess we were just a little unlucky.
Hoping the clouds would clear, we waited for some time but it had only gotten worse so we left and went back to our accommodation and called it a day.It was a fruitful day in Lake Tekapo as we had some really great eye candy at the top of Mt John which was enough to make up for the not-so-impressive night sky.
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