The south lakes

---

In the southwest part of this unique country I discovered some of the most beautiful lakes I have ver seen.

This time I had rented a car and travelling along the southern part, I started out to visit my first lake:Lake Matheson and, as most of the natural places in New Zealand, it was surrounded by tranquility with very few tourists, just as I like it.

From this lake, when it is a fine day, it is possible to see the tallest mount in New Zealand "Mount Cook".

But I was a bit unlucky since that it was slightly cloudy but marvellous anyway.

There are innumerable tracks to take around the lake area.

Paths are well designated and perfect for a visit of the lake.

I immersed myself, for a few hours walk, in the Beech forest passing through pretty scenaries allover the place.

I decided, then, to stay an overnight in this area since that nobody could see me, even though I was not sure if it was possible to do any sort of camping here.

I chose an area nearby the road with a fenced grassland with thousands of sheeps kept inside which in New Zealand are more than the inhabitants.

I went to a small mart to make a bit of shopping and then back quickly to set my self up for the night.

Even if the night was super pretty with the sky, finally, clear of the clouds and tempested of stars I regretted not to have had a nice and warm blanket with me.

In the morning, after quickly breakfasting I headed for a brief look of the west coast that I was recommended to visit, particularly, around an area called "Knights Point".

Definitely worth a visit, a stupendous lookout point where there are those characteristic rocks popping out of the water.

Continuing my trip the next spot was, this time, a town called Tekapo with the beautiful samename lake.

I immediately found a spot to drop my car nearby a gentle river and rented instead a bicycle to explore the fantastic countryside.

Meandering road going up and down which was quite a bit of a ride but, that effort, was rewarding me , at the end with pretty views of this region.

At night, I was politely invited to a barbecue with other fellow travellers for a fine dinner, talking and laughing about our past experiences and enjoying those unique moments that we could have in our life.

Further deown the coast in the Canterbury region I arrived to anohter stunning lake, a glacial lake: Lake Pukaki.

I parked my car in the hostel and stayed there because I needed that after a few days of sleep in the car.

I decided to reach the lake by walk since that it was only one eight kilometers road with fine landscapes on both sides, though a bit windy.

Once I arrived, here, there were quite many tourist compared to my previous experiences.

Said that the colour of the lake was super blue and this is caused by a groundfloor rock called "Rock Flower" that with the sunrays penetrating in the water and hitting this kind of rock it gives this prestine colour to the lake.

Here in this part of the country it seems that civilization is nonexistent and there is always this quiet ambiance around the nature.

Finally I got to my last lake around trip and it was Wanaka town in the samename lake.

This time, here, was very much windy and I could hardly walk around the lake.

But the same as in most of the other places tourists were limited and there was almost no sign of development.

This trip along the southwest part of New Zealand is one of the best experiences I have ever had travelling around the world.

---

Comments

[Nick]

Fantastic place...