Central South Island

On the 23rd of February we took a detour from our southward path to travel up into the heart of the South Island, visiting the mountain resorts of Lake Tekapo and Mount Cook Village.

Tekapo is the village on the lake of the same name, with a population of 295 but having as many, if not more, people passing through each day. Most busses traveling from Christchurch to Queenstown (and vice versa) have a rest stop in Tekapo because of the stunning views and colours. Lake Tekapo is in the heart of the Mackenzie Basin, a large plain surrounded on all sides by the Southern Alps. The geography of the Mackenzie Basin means that the closer you are to the middle of it, the less it rains, as the mountains hang on to the rain blowing in from east and west. Just a few kilometers away from the mountains the yearly rainfall rate drops from +6m to just under 2m. Besides the good weather you've got Lake Tekapo itself - a glacial lake of an astounding powder blue that seems almost unnatural, as if the Tekapo Tourism board had tipped several tins of paint into the lake! The colour is due to Rock Flour - the granite of the mountains was finely ground for millennia by glacial movement, and the resulting fine powder is suspended in the waters of the lake giving it a mesmerizing hue.
There's plenty of walking to be done in and around Tekapo, as well as plenty of fishing and other water based activities. Our chosen hike was the Mt John Observatory climb - an easy 2 hour trek up the 500m mountain that is home to the University of Canterbury's series of telescopes and night sky observatories. The isolated location of Lake Tekapo means that on clear nights (and there are plenty of them) you can see an incredible number of stars, the Milky Way is a bright blaze of white from North to South. Unfortunately I lost the quick release for my tripod a few weeks ago (probably in the rain at Abel Tasman national park), so I was reduced to resting the camera on my backpack for my attempt at a night photo but it should still give you an idea of the amazing sky above Tekapo. In the photo you can also see the Church of the Good Shepherd, a very small interdenominational chapel on the shores of the lake that offers a panoramic view for the congregation. Sitting in the chapel you can't help but wonder at the miracle of creation.

Our main reason for visiting Lake Tekapo was actually to use the sleepy village as a base for visiting Mount Cook / Aoraki national park, home to most of NZ's highest mountains - the star being 3754m high Aoraki, the Cloud Piercer dubbed Mt Cook by Pakeha (European settlers). From Mount Cook Village you can take a few half day walks into the valley beneath Aoraki, and we opted for the intensive climb to Sealy Tarns, a 3-4 hour return ascent to a small alpine lake with rewarding views of Mount Sefton, the fourth highest mountain in NZ; the Murchison Glacier Lake and of course Mount Cook. Our stay at the Sealy Tarns was cut short due to the clouds coming over the mountains - the temperature dropped and rain was imminent. Aoraki was certainly living up to its name!
Once down in the valley we started on the other half-day walk that would lead up the Hooker Valley to Murchison Glacier lake, though we could only go about half way due to time constraints. On the way back we did get to see some alien wildlife though - a wily weasel ran across the track, stopped half way and checked us out before continuing into the bushes - so the short trek had its plus side despite the rain. On the walk back to our pickup at the Hermitage Hotel (rooms from NZ$530 a night) we also foraged for mountain berries - our search netted us plenty of red currants, some blackberries and raspberries as well as a handful of gooseberries.

As always, plenty of photos are to be found on my Picasa web albums.

Updates from Queenstown and Te Anau will be online in a couple of days' time, so stay tuned!