The bluest water – Lake Tekapo
Lake Tekapo: View from the only building looking over the lake, a really old church.
Upon leaving Christchurch, we headed to Lake Tekapo via Ashburn and Fairlie. Along the way, we picked up a nice hitchhiker named Daniel. He looked a lot like a hippie Jesus, with his long brown hair and peaceful demeanor. Continuing his nomadic lifestyle around New Zealand, he parted ways with us once we arrived at Lake Tekapo, leaving each of us with keepsakes – cool postcards of his beautiful-yet-disturbing artworks.
Lake Tekapo is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. The lake itself is a vivid blue hue due to the glacial silt that flows down into the water. Surrounding the icy pool are the nearby greenish-brown mountains that mimic the scenery we’re used to driving through – native bush mixed with new (“invasive”) species. The newcomer in this area were thousands of gorgeous purple Lupins that stood out perfectly from the demure greens, greys, and browns filling the nearby land. In the distance were the white caps of the distant snowy mountains, filling the gap between the nearby hills. There was a small cathedral on top of a hill looking right out over Lake Tekapo – it had the best views of all.
After standing in awe at the beauty of the area for awhile, we sought out our campsite for the evening, located directly next to Lake Tekapo – on Lake Alexandrina. We relaxed for the evening, soaking in the glorious views that surrounded us. We cooked a nice makeshift Korma, Dani and Pete cracked open a bottle of Pinot Noir, and we chatted with the neighbors.
