lakes and stargazing

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Even the rain could not put a downer on our mood the first night and morning in the van. We had a fair amount of driving to do and our first proper stop was lake tekapo (not lake teapot as my autocorrect would have you believe). This is truly an incredibly scenic spot, a small stone church nestles on the lakeside, picture postcard pretty with the bluest of blue waters, surrounded by rugged hills and mountains. We climbed mount john, the site of a famous observatory and took a proper long look at the lake from every angle. The next day we returned on a night time star gazing tour. The headlights were turned off on the minivan as we wound our way up the mountain road (quite a nerve wracking experience when there are sheer drops either side). Seeing Saturn through a telescope more than made up for the fact that I was freezing despite being well equipped with a large puffer jacket and a hot chocolate! It really does have rings! I still get excited thinking about it!

Our next stop was mount cook and the hooker valley. The hooker valley hike was indescribably spectacular, but I'm going to try anyway! We hiked across a valley floor, surrounded by snowcapped mountains to a glacier lake where jutting icebergs threw perfect reflections across the clear waters. In short, it was pretty awesome!

We topped off the day with our first petrol running out panic- so errr new zealand is pretty big! Luckily this time the petrol gods were on our side!

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