Christchurch and Lake Tekapo

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Not far from Mount Cook, lies Lake Tekapo, a beautifully blue/green coloured lake between mountains and hills. The village itself is very small, mainly geared towards tourism. On the shore of the lake stands a small church. A church with a view, I must say.
The lake gets its green and blue colour from the sediments of all the rock grinding that is done over the many years by the glaciers, nearby and up in the mountains. The river takes this sediment with it and finally ends up in the lake. As the sediment then sinks down to the bottom, the lake gets it beautiful color by the reflection of light on the bottom of the lake.

Next to the lake is a hill that houses the Mount John Observatory, New Zealand's biggest. When the skies are clear, the sky above the town is incredible, especially from the hill. When I was there, the sky was partially cloudy but luckily, the sky gazing tour that I had booked wasn't cancelled. After dark, we went up to the observatory to gaze at the stars. Unfortunately, the moon was full, causing some "light pollution" when gazing at the stars. However, I did get a great view of Saturn through one of the telescopes! Amazing. It looked so small, but it was very clear and I could see the rings around the planet!

After two nights in Lake Tekapo, I drove on to Christchurch, the South Island's biggest city. It's a pleasant city with a big cathedral in the middle of town. I did a nice walk through town passing a lane of spanish architecture, traditional gondola's on the city's stream and botanical gardens. Next to the gardens was the local Arts Centre, housed in an old building. After a stroll through here, I went back to the hostel where I was staying and met up again with my American friend Kevin. We had a couple of beers together in town that night and since he was also on a round the world trip, we were talking about where we would meet again. Right now, it looks like we will meet again in Washington DC, his hometown. I'm planning to be there for Independence day (July 4th), which is near the end of my trip. Looking forward to that!
But I have some more destinations to go to, before it's time for DC. First, I had to return my car to the airport and catch a flight back to Auckland. I had 5 more days to spend in the North of NZ.

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Photos

Mt John Observatory
full moon is lighting up the night sky (no sun involved in this picture!)

Comments

[Jean]

Independence day
Tony, It's a pitty to hear that on the most beautiful day of the year (Independence Day) you're not at the place to be.....Eersel. That's gonna be a loss for the big party!