The next morning we headed towards the famous Lake Tekapo along a portion of road called the Chain Hills Highway which was beautiful. We pulled over several times to enjoy the views and took a detour towards a small lake on the way where it was very windy and snowing heavily. We got a few pictures and headed off before the snow settled and we got stuck. We made a quick stop in the interestingly named town of Twizel for some fuel before we arrived at the shores of Lake Tekapo.
Our first stop was at the Church of The Good Shepherd which offered an amazing view of the lake and surrounding mountains and we had a moment of peace and quiet in the small church right by the lake's edge. We had a little wander around the town itself before heading to the Tekapo Springs for a soothing and relaxing afternoon overlooking the lake. While we were in the heated pools, it started snowing which made it a very memorable experience. To avoid the high costs of camping by the lake, we found a remote campsite out of town for the night at just $5. There were no real facilities and we had no power for our electricals but still enjoyed a hearty dinner, though it was freezing cold when we woke up - we could see our breath inside the campervan!
We cooked a quick breakfast before heading back to park near the hot springs for our hike up and around Mt John. The relatively small mountain overlooks Lake Tekapo and the hike we had chosen was to take three hours in total. We wrapped up warm as there was plenty of snow around and began our ascent. The first part was through thick forest with a steep climb - we didn't realise how unfit we have got since we stopped riding. The floor was icy and there were several occasions where we both nearly fell over but we made it to the summit after about 45 mins. The views were incredible whichever way you looked; you could see for miles and miles. It was exceptionally windy at the top and hard to keep your balance at times but we stayed up there for a good while. The longer but easier part of the hike was to await though there was plenty of snow to get through as we started our descent - it was 10 inches deep in some places just off the trail. The last bit of the walk was alongside the lake itself and we were beginning to thaw out by now and we got back to our campervan at lunchtime. It was a lovely but physically demanding hike and we slept well last night.
We stayed in Twizel overnight and this morning we have headed back down through Kurow to top up our gas bottles before heading to where we are now, in the public library in Oamaru (no clubs going on today) on the east coast. We will try and catch a sight of the penguins of the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony on our way out of the town before continuing our journey south later this afternoon.
Day Thirty-One Highlight - Tekapo Springs
Day Thirty-Two Highlight - Mt John Summit Hike
Views on the Chain Hills Highway
Lake Tekapo
Views from Mt John Summit
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