Thursday 28 July - Tekapo to Omarau

   

The name Tekapo derives from Maori words Taka (sleeping mat) and Po (night).This morning we walk a little way around the lake – the smaller of the two in the locale – a beautiful turquoise blue. This is due to the finely ground rock flour in the glacial melted waters. It is the 4th largest lake in NZ. We stop briefly at the Church of the Good Shepherd built in 1935 to the glory of God as a memorial to the pioneers of the Mackenzie Country. 
The famous sheep dog statue on the lake’s edge is in memory of the hardy mustering dogs “without the help of which the grazing of this mountainous country would be impossible.”

         

After this we fulfil our “winter sporting” tickbox with a trip to Alpine Springs – where we could ice skate, snow tube and then sink into the hot spring pools at 36, 38 and 40 degrees. Tiegan and David had a whale of a time on the snow tubes, mounting the slope by the escalator slope complete with crash helmets and sturdy rings. Nicole remains unconvinced, with a headache and bruised bottom! Rowan was enjoying it until she was crashed into at the bottom of her third run by an incoming snow tuber. She then decided she had had enough – and after another  token effort final run was happy to hang up her crash helmet and watch from a safe distance.

   

   

The hot springs in the complex next to the ice and snow activities were divine. although the walk to and from the changing rooms was freezing and the size of our micro fibre travel towels did not compensate for this at all! They are efficient but not large!

 We continue our journey south, driving through the Southern Alps passing Mount Cook in the distance. At 3754 metres NZ's highest mountain is dazzling... or it should have been... Sadly its' peak was covered with cloud and so we had to content ourselves with the postcard in the visitor centre!

We pass through the Waitaki Valley and stop at Danceys Pass. Under an impressive limestone overhang on a hill with great views to the mountains, we find the Maraewhenua Maori rock paintings.The charcoal-and-ochre paintings date back several centuries, tracing everything from pre-European hunting to sailing ships,

 

At last we reach Oamaru.  We picked up a flyer for Chillawhile Backpackers when we were in Akaroa and go straight there. It is a hidden gem. A backpackers and art gallery and we are immediately made to feel like part of the family by Kelly the owner/manager. Oamaru is famous for its' yellow eyed and blue eyed penguin colonies and, after  dumping our stuff we head off to the harbour to hunt for penguins coming ashore to nest at dusk armed with a local map and insider knowledge. Apparantly they come right into the town and  nest under some of the Victorian historic buildings and can often be seen waddling up the high street. However, we dont see any!

We return to Chillawhile and are invited to share a  lucky pot supper with the other guests, "woofers" (Willing Workers on Organic Farms who work a couple of hours a day in various roles in exhange for free lodgings) and neighbours. There are 16 of us in total and each group brings a dish to share - we all have to introduce ourselves and our dish so we get to kinow everyone really quickly - Nina from Finland, Jacob from Australia, Jack from Hong Kong, Deano - a native who is travelling with his daughter, Saskia around New Zealand, a Turkish neighbour, Alfred and his friend from Malaysia, Chester - another neighbour, Kelly (our hostess) and her daughter Saol. It is a veritable feast and the girls settle down afterwards with new friends and watch a DVD together.

Wednesday 27 July - Akaroa to Lake Tekapo and the importance of vegetables!

After breakfast we take a walk around the very pretty and sheltered Akaroa – it is obviously popular all year around and a big boating community. Akaroa itself is situated on the Banks Peninsula and is the site of the first and only sortie for the French to NZ. The town has contined to play on it’s French heritage and there are tricoloure and french street names in abundance.

  

 

We walk along the beach road and up the jetties before ending up at the lighthouse built in 18This imposing, six-sided, wooden lighthouse looks thoroughly at home on Cemetery Point. But this is not its original site. The lighthouse was first built on a rugged headland at the entrance to Akaroa Harbour, more than 80 metres above sea level. The site was chosen in 1875 and the lighthouse built in 1878-79, to a design that was developed by an engineer, John Blackett, for New Zealand conditions. It  was replaced in 1977 by an automatic light. 

  

We pass a statue of  Frank Arthur Worsley - a native of Akaroa who joined Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition of 1914.The aim was to cross the Antarctic continent, but the ship became frozen in ice, and was eventually crushed. All 28 men from the expedition floated on the ice until they put to sea. Then they sailed in three lifeboats until, thanks to Worsley's navigational skills, they reached Elephant Island, off the Antarctic Peninsula Worsley, Shackleton and four other men then sailed the 22-foot some 800 miles across the stormy South Atlantic Ocean, eventually arriving at their intended destination, South Georgia. This was an astounding feat of navigation by Worsley, who used a sextant in a tiny boat that encountered 50-foot (15 m) waves and storms. Shackleton, Worsley and seaman Tom Crean then walked across South Georgia in a 36-hour march to fetch help.All men were rescued from Elephant Island.

The French references continue as we pass the boucherie du village – sadly shut for the winter and also the patisserie – full of croissant and delicious looking pastries. 

The sun is shining as we jump into Nelly the Nissan and head south towards Lake Tekapo and the mountains. We head back and up along the twisty roads and have to stop as Tiegan feels sick – it could be a long journey! But she eventually settles into it and we don’t stop again until we eat our now familiar car picnic lunch in Ashburton – home of the salmon farm and the slightly weird Salmon World. 

We reach Lake Tekapo and Nicole does her stuff – negotiating the last budget room in Lake Tekapo lakefront hotel. Our now usual routine of find a backpacker, unpack and head to the supermarket follows and after a slightly heated discussion about the importance of vegetables the family settle down to chicken, mash, broccoli, sweetcorn and carrots. Sadly we missed the observatory trip as the girls are pooped and it is also very expensive!