South Island blog #2

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So we have had an exciting few days seeing all sorts but actually not travelling very far. There is a problem with South Island and its this: it is SO jaw-droppingly gorgeous everywhere that you have to keep stopping.
So we left Lake Tekapo via the charming but ridiculously crowded Church of the Good Shepard. It is a beautiful stone church built to cater for the spiritual needs of the pioneer Europeans and is still holding services. Trouble is that it is perched right on the lake and bus loads gather all day every day so a nice photo is all but impossible and some people's understanding of appropriate behaviour is not consistent with mine. As I sat inside for a moment of contemplation and considering how I could tease my vicar about "how's this for an office" people were climbing up the outside to take photos through the window as photos and not permitted inside.
We moved on to Mount Cook /Aoraki via some fabulous scenery and parked in the campground then set off to do the 3 hour walk of the Hooker Valley up to view the Mueller glacier and the lakes. It was a gorgeous walk and not too warm. The lake at the top is huge but apparently started out as a sink hole not many years ago and is growing very fast as the glacier retreats very fast. Global warming and glacial rhythms all very much on display.
Before we left we went to the excellent visitor centre and the displays and material were so good we reluctantly left 2 hours later.
We were heading for a powered campsite but took a detour to look at the clay cliffs, these are cliffs that are being washed out by meltwater and rain but you can also clearly see all the strata and the angles that show the earths movement due this region rising.
We are using a borrowed book South Island Frenzy and everything we go to look at is just brilliant.
After camping at a small campground with power at Kanakui we set off this morning for Dunedin to get a technician to look at the campers heating system which has failed to work for 5 days now and it's bloody cold at night! So on the way to Dunedin we stopped to look at the Moereki boulders on the beach. No explanation panels so I can tell you only that they are extremely weird rock spheres that emerge from the eroding cliffs and after some time break apart. They are most odd!
The heating is still not mended and I'm starting to use my "this will not do!" assertive voice when I call them. Apart from that we have adapted to campervan life in Gnasher and Brian has almost stopped hitting his head. Whilst I am still very fond of my swag there is something very seductive about just parking up, cooking dinner, having a drink and making the bed. No clearing rocks, putting down tarps and setting up all the kit, no devouring insects. But no night sky above your head and a certain amount of claustrophobia. Plus it is impossible to not be in each other's way all the time. Tomorrow we go to Queenstown mainly to solve the heating issue but will be there a while as there is so much to do.

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