Mount Cook - my favourite stop in our South Island trip. Mountain. Glacier. Serene. Breathtaking... and ignore that car.
New Zealand's highest mountain - Mount Cook is my favourite stop in our little trip to South Island. It stands at 3,754 metres, together with other 27 other mountains making up the famous Southern Alps.
One could bring this a notch up by taking a helicopter ride or experience the Tasman Glacier at by boat. This boat ride however, has age restriction and little niece is way too young to be part of it. She, however, meets the criteria for heli ride, but the weather did not. The clouds were hanging too low for heli rides, so we were left with walks and hikes.
It was already a long drive and we had a little treasure hunt detour, we were kind of running late. The only bonus was it was in summer and the sun set at a later time.
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| We met a couple at the beginning of a trail and asked if we can take a pic of their map :P |
It was a little scary that we have driven for awhile and there were no cars in sight. The one car we saw in front of us, just went zoomed and out of sight. We all nodded in agreement that everybody in New Zealand drive like they tofu delivery driver (Read: Takumi Fujiwara in Initial D) = ="
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| Cross the bridge and let it go... lol |
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| Public washroom with a magnificent view once you step outside |
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| Walking in the Middle Earth |
It started drizzling by then, we had to reach our next stop before it was too dark, BIL and little niece were waiting at the parking area or we would have stayed longer. We made our way back, to reach back the parking area at an agreed time, and make our way to our next stop.
Next stop - Wanaka.
Side note: 55555 (in Cantonese, 5 is pronounced as mm. So this is read as mm mm mm mm mm, as in nodding your head. Cute eh ;)
In my earlier post, I mentioned that Lake Tekapo is the second largest of three roughly parallel lakes running north-south. Lake Pukaki is the largest. The last is Ohau. This lake, likewise Lake Tekapo has a distinctive blue colour, thanks the glacial feed from particles from glaciers.
It was quite a sight, the road from Lake Tekapo to Mount Cook. We were not able to secure any accommodation in Mount Cook, so it was a long drive day. From Lake Tekapo, detour to Mount Cook and all the way to Wanaka for overnight.
Beautiful scenaries are part of the attraction for road trips in New Zealand. In fact, we were often distracted and stopped many times to take photos along the way.
Sis dropped her phone on one of our stops, and only realised the following stop. We turned back and Lady Luck smiled upon us. She found her phone, amongst the little rocks and grass.
As there were many photos taken at our very-frequent-stops, this is a post on some of them. :)
Side note: Results day soon...*worry mode*
X-Men: Days of Future Past was premiered last Friday in Melbourne Central. I heard some of the casts made an appearance but all we saw was this. Grin.
Side note: I wish the weekend is longer!
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| Baa! |
We have initially planned to have a nice soak in the hot pools till we realised these pools are not natural hot springs, but heated pool and decided not to go ahead with it. After all, it cost $22 per entry. Till.. we saw little niece looked so disappointed when we explained to her that we will not to go the pool. She nodded her head in understanding, didn't even make any fuss so we decided to split up. BIL to bring little niece to the pool, sis and I will walkabout, fluff around, take some photos and do lunch takeaway run.
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| Lake |
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| Lake |
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| Russell Lupines |
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| Lake again :P |
We did lunch takeaways at the short strip of where restaurants and a supermarket is located. Yup, there is a Four Square Supermarket at Lake Tekapo, where you can do some grocery and cook. ^^
We ate in the car, then make our way to Mount Cook.
Side note: 40th anniversary of Rubik's cube on Monday 19th May 2014.
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| The water is suppose to be in turquoise in colour! |
Lake Tekapo is located in the heart of the Mackenzie District in Canterbury. This lake is made famous for its spectacular turquoise colour due to finely ground rock in the glacial melted waters.
The photos I took doesn't look turquoise - I blamed it on the clouds. It must be those clouds causing funny colours :P
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| Ok - maybe this does look more turquoise |
This is a big lake, covering an area of 83 sq km. It is the second largest of there roughly parallel lakes running north-south. At the southern end of the lake, lies a small town of the same name.
The name Tekapo derives from the Maori words taka (sleeping mat) and po (night). Other site said Takapo means "To leave in haste at night". The current name, Tekapo is a change from Takapo.
The Maori were the first people who discovered the Mackenzie Basin. However, the name Mackenzie is after a Scottish sheep stealer, Mr James Mackenzie. Mr Mackenzie was a shepherd turned sheep stealer who drove flocks of sheep inland with his smart dog (named Friday) to avoid being discovered. Mackenzie was captutred but Friday was able to control the sheeps even without his master. As a memorial to working collie dogs like Friday, a dog statue was commissioned and still stands proudly on the shores of Lake Tekapo.
Next to, or very near this dog statue, was this beautiful church - Church of the Good Shepherd. It was built in 1935 as a place of worship for the pioneer families of the Mackenzie country.
According to the sign outside the church, it is open daily from 9am to 5pm, weather permitting. I am not sure how heavy is the rain or how strong is the wind before it is considered as not permitting but the church was closed on both days we were there.
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| The other end of the church |
So you see, if one is inside the church and look out from the altar window, you will see the magnificent Lake Tekapo. I was brought into attention by sis that there are many photos taken from inside this church, with the cross against a backdrop of the turquoise lake. As the church was not opened when we were there, I don't have such privilege. If you are interested, just google for Church of Good Shepherd and look through the images. It is that popular.
I was curious, and peeped through the keyhole.. and thought these would do instead.
Side note: Hot water bottle is awesome!
There's a whole lot of smiley faces in the city today, especially along the Yarra River on my running route. Mm.. it might have been awhile but I haven't gone for running for a while. I blame it on rainy Melbourne days :P
Side note: Hamster ball is an awesome thing!
Our two days in Lake Tekapo was unfortunately pouring like no tomorrow, and I have realised that my only photo of this boutique accommodation is taken out from a car, of course - rainy day.
Our reservation at Parkbrae Estate was for Garden Tower, for 3 adults and 1 child. I didn't read up on the website before the travel, therefore I didn't expect that Garden Tower comprises of two floors - middle and top floor. Actually, sis who made the reservation was also as surprised as I was. Reason being there were actually 2 single beds and a queen size bed in the middle floor itself. It was more than enough to house all of us.
Middle floor:
Top floor:
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| The obvious bigger and more equiped kitchen, complete with a kitchen island |
We had high expectations and this place certainly was promising, especially the balcony overlooks to the Church of the Good Shepherd. We had hoped to see this...
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| Pic source |
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| and no church in the background.... |
Side note: Happy birthday Little P!
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| Peacock fountain |
We anticipated a quiet town with most shops would be closed, but this was even worse. In actual fact, everything was closed, even fast food eateries which we thought may be in operation. We ended up driving back to the airport to get some food for lunch before making our way to Lake Tekapo.
This is probably the only one place that was open - Christchurch Botanic Gardens, and probably because it was free of charge.
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| Canterbury Museum |
We only walked a very small part of the garden. Refer here for the map for the garden, we only walked the part near city.
These were from the Vegetables and Herb Garden area.
We left Christchurch for Lake Tekapo at about noon-ish after making a pit stop at the airport to buy food and ate them in the car to save time. :P
Side note: Back to lounge with light! ^^