Diane's Birthday Lake Tekapo Day 159 24/02/2015

After a leisurely breakfast we set off from Akaroa heading towards Lake Tekapo where we were planning to spend the night. The journey back along Banks Peninsular was lovely. We headed west and then rejoined the main highway south. The highway was quite busy with numerous roadworks but at least they didn't just close the road completely! We crossed over New Zealand's longest bridge before leaving the highway and heading inland towards the Southern Alps. Apparently the rugged and untamed landscape around this area features heavily in Lord of the Rings. We passed through Geraldine and onto Fairlie where we stopped for a lovely lunch at the Eat Deli & Bar. The food reminded us of eating at Earthy, one of our favourite cafes in Edinburgh. From here the road ascends to Burke's Pass and open landscapes to reach Lake Tekapo. We checked in at the campsite which has fabulous views across the turquoise water and the backdrop of rolling hills. We walked up Mt John, a hill top nearby which houses New Zealand's largest observatory. The whole area has been declared an International Dark Sky Reserve, one of only five in the world. From here we continued on along the hillside with views of Alexandrina and McGregor Lakes and the snow capped mountains of the Southern Alps before returning via the lake waterfront. The intense blue colour of the lake is due to the sediment in the water which retracts the sunlight and gives it it's brilliant colour. Despite it's appeal we both decided it was probably too cold for a dip (we are at 800m!) and headed back to our van to chill out in the evening sun. We had a lovely thai green curry for dinner, cooked by Simon, washed down by a quality bottle of Hawkes Bay Merlot to celebrate Diane's birthday.

Enjoying birthday lunch

Lake Tekapo from the campsite

The view from Mt John

Heading along the trail 

Having a birthday rest 

Looking across the the Southern Alps