Today after saying good bye to our hosts in Timaru, Rick and Sue, we retrace our path back towards Central Otago and Cromwell and it is going to be a LONG day. When we came this way headed north the weather was rainy, low clouds and we bypassed Aoraki (Mt. Cook). The weather now is absolutely beautiful. A great opportunity to see the Canterbury countryside.
Lakes Tekapo and Pukaki were formed by glacial activity and moraines blocking the outflow, resulting in the formation of 3 lakes; Ohau being the third. The outflow from Pukaki has been diverted to the Ohau channel for hydroelectric generation and the canals for this are also used as salmon farms. Both Tekapo and Pukaki are exceptionally blue due to finally suspended glacial silt called blue crush that causes only this blue light spectrum to be reflected back. At the far end of the glacial basin lie the Tasman and Mueller glaciers and Mount Cook. In one respect I'm glad we had such lousy weather initially going through this area because it gives such a point of contrast to how beautiful the Mackenzie basin and Canterbury plains are. This area was used throughout the filming of the Lord of the Rings films.
Our first stop is at the Church of the Good Shepherd at the foot of Lake Tekapo, then on to the Mt. John observatory which is atop a 3,000 foot granite monolith surrounded by the Canterbury plains. It is designated as a international dark sky reserve due to the absence of pollution and ambient light. While the views during the day, and a coffee at the cafe at the top were well worth the stop, a night tour with star gazing is on our list for a future visit.
After a fun ride around the far end of Lake Pukaki and being astounded by the views up lake to Mt. Cook, we had no idea what a treat it was going to be to actually get up and close! This is where Sir Edmund Hillary refined his climbing skill resulting in his successful first ascent of Mt. Everest. I could blab on about how beautiful it is, but as they say, "a picture is worth a thousand words". Take a look below.
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| Church of the Good Shepherd. The window looks out on Mt. Cook |
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| Lake Tekapo |
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| Lake Pukaki with Mt. Cook in the background |
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| Astro Cafe on Mt. John |
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| Mt. John observatory. A Unesco night sky heritage sight |
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| Hooker valley with Mt. Cook village |
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| Trail to Kea Point |
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| Mt. Sefton and the Mueller Glacier |
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| Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Center and Mt. Cook |
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| Mt. Sefton and the Mueller glacier moraine basin |
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| Mount Cook |
The day ended with Thai food in Twizel and a chance for Bonnie to show how outstanding (or sitting) she is in her field. We just happened on this lavender field on the road and not only was it fun to visit, it was also impressive how they had taken a shipping container and converted it into a store for their lavender based products.
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Happy girl enjoying the Lavender
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