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Published: October 15th 2007
Fantastic sunset
The moon rising above the mountains, this was taken from the back of the van while cooking!!!Left Nat & Ryan at Wood End Beach and drove through Rangiora and Oxford (lots of English place names over here) on the scenic drive to Mount Cook National Park. We stopped at Fairlie for lunch and then set up camp at Lake Tekapo, at a great little campsite with stunning views of the lake. The water was a perfect turquoise against the brilliant white of the snowy mountains. We walked along the lake's beach to the famous Church of the Good Shepherd, which had a beautiful view of the lake from its windows (bit different to Low Hill's view Rosie!). It was unfortunate timing as we coincided with several Japanese tour buses and irritatingly they kept wandering into our photos! Jase got his revenge by spoiling a Japanese group photo by naughtily pretending to tie his shoe lace by the church doorway and mooning a huge arse cleavage! Rach thought it was a bit sacriligous to expose your bum just outside a church. We dashed over to the sheepdog monument double-quick for a photo and then wandered back to the van. We fed the naughty ducks which kept pestering us around the van, although you're probably not
Lake tekapo
Our first glimpse of the turquoise lake supposed to encourage them! Whilst cooking dinner, we sat fascinated by the beautiful sunset over the lake. A full moon appeared at dusk and the sky changed from hues of azure to pink to purple to indigo to inky black. Finally the moon glittered in the night sky and its reflection shimmered in the lake waters.
Stargazing We wrapped up for a evening tour of the observatory. Our Dutch astronomer drove us up the winding path to the top of Mount St John and we braved the cool mountain air for a spot of star gazing, picking out the Southern Cross, Scorpio and Jupiter and other constellations, despite the brightness of the full moon. As we looked up we were treated to a shooting star - perfect timing! We took a closer look at Jupiter through some mega binoculars and then through a huge telescope, where we could see its bands. Next we peered into the telescope at the twinkling Jewel Box and then further into deep space. We finished with a look at the moon, which was blindingly bright! We were so cold that night we had to have hot chocolate and use the hot water bottles. Rach
had persuaded to Jase to buy a pair of fluffy flannelette pyjamas In the morning, we ventured back up Mount St John for a daytime look at the observatory and the stunning views of the surrounding lakes.
Tasman Glacier Next we drove past the huge Pukaki Lake which was twinkling in the sunlight and drove down a winding track to the Blue Lakes. The lake was dominated by huge Mount Cook, New Zealand's highest mountain. We walked to the Tasman Glacier Lake which was an eerie milky grey with mini icebergs floating by. Looking down from our vantage point on the moraine, it looked other worldly! We had a picnic next to the river and then drove through Merino Country to reach Oamuru on the coast.
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mom
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jammies
love the jammies can l get rid of your scoobydo ones now you,ve got grown up ones? great pictures xxx