Beautiful Blue

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So we headed off from Arthur's Pass to Lake Tekapo. We left the mountains and were soon back on to the Canterbury plains heading south, stopping briefly for lunch in Methven. Then back towards the mountains and the southern lakes. The landscape changes dramatically along the way. One minute you are in Lord of the Rings country, then you are in Wild West style plains, then by beautiful mountain lakes.

Upon first sight of the lake even from a distance, the first thing you marvel at is it's colour. It litterally makes you say wow out loud! It is a really light brilliant blue, that is due to the glacial water that arrives into the lake full of glacial dust that was once rocks, grounded over years into a fine dust that sits in the water and gives it such a brilliant colour.

On arriving we checked into the holiday park where we were staying in a cosy little cabin, with a view of the lake. We were just a few paces from the beachfront, so we went for a walk in the glorious sunshine along the lake to the township and got a well deserved drink.

The following day we went for a walk up to the top of Mount John that towers above the lake and the town, offering stunning views of the lake and even a view back to our cabin and of course DJ!! (yes the colour does make it easy to spot!) Also on top of the hill is an observatory where astronomers from around the world come to view the southern skies. We took an interesting little tour around, including a view of their massive telescope and a chance to see Venus. After descending the mountain, we spent the rest of the afternoon sunbathing on the beach.

On our last morning in Tekapo, we went for a little horse trekking alongside the lake. Yasi had been looking forward to this for quite a while as she hadn't ridden in a very long time. Chris was a little nervous to begin with as this was his first serious outting since his donkey ride on the beach when he was 7!! His nerves were soon calmed though as the beautiful trek took us through the pine forest and out to the side of the lake with fabulous views across. After the ride Yasi helped feed the rest of our bread to the faithful horses who had not thrown Chris down the mountain.

That is our blog for Tekapo, next we headed to Twizel and Mount Cook. More to come soon...

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