We had sensibly decided to spend two nights here in Tekapo, in the lovely house (did I mention the log burner?) with special views across the lake.
After breakfast we walked into town along the shoreline, stopping to admire the Church of the Good Shepherd, an iconic landmark, before going over the footbridge into the main part of town.
I was a bit worried about having to cross SH8 in order to get to the path that ran alongside the lake, but I needn’t have been – it was very quiet.
The previous evening we had decided to book for the four of us to go out with the Dark Sky Project, a local company who would take us up to the St John observatory, and talk us through the night sky, with a chance of seeing the Southern Lights if we were lucky. This area is famous for being one of only eight dark sky reserves in the world, having been declared so in 2012, and is the only one in the Southern Hemisphere.
Unfortunately, when we moved into Level 2 restrictions, which we had just done, the numbers allowed to attend became restricted and so Faye received a call saying that they could only take 2 of us now – no good therefore. We did think about perhaps going, but the forecast was for snow and cloudy skies, so we would have been likely to be inside watching a simulation, and anyway splitting the group would have been very antisocial. Another good reason to come back another time.
We enjoyed our snuffle around the outside of the church, although we were now not allowed in, and Martin was surprised how close it was to the town, with all the photos he had seen previously showing it appearing to be in a very remote spot, through the trickery of the camera lens.
We carried on walking across the footbridge into the main part of town, keeping along the shoreline after we crossed the estuary.
We then got somewhat distracted by the chance to play on a tire wire canopy thingy – something we used to call a foefie-slide back in the day. This one is more sophisticated however, with a tyre to sit on, and a bouncy tire at the other end that returns the ones with more momentum back again along reverse of the downward trajectory.
And there were two. So we didn’t need to push the other children out of the way to get our turn. Much.
Free entertainment over, we went to the local supermarket where those that imbibed got a coffee and those that didn’t bought mega superduper-draw huge jackpot lottery tickets. I bought some too, but had to ask Martin to pay for mine as they don’t accept purchases from foreigners. I did pay him back in full, before the draw, just in case. Although I wonder now writing this, whether the terms of the lottery preclude me from winning. I didn’t check the small print, but as I didn’t even as little as $10, it is somewhat academic.
We watched a man stretch out what we thought was tape cordoning off the children’s playground, but what turned out to be a tightrope kit, which he and another then practiced their skills on, one foot above the ground.
We returned to our digs along the main road. A small town this, largely for tourism, although many facilities were closed. Level two seems to have spooked the south island a little, or maybe they were being just extra cautious.
While our partners were happy to chill and read, Martin and I got restless and drove over to look at the Tekapo hot springs which were open. They looked quite big and well attended, but Thinking that we would have quite a hot spring bonanza in Hanmer Springs, we went instead to the St John observatory area on the mountain peak of the same name just outside the town.
Martin wound the hire car up the slopes of the peak and we parked at the top, where fine views surrounded us. Some had walked up, a bit of a hike, some were walking a circuit of the peak at the high altitude and some like us were taking in the various vantage points and in my case, clicking the camera.
I don’t remember ever being in a place where there is a curtain of mountains all around on the horizon in every direction. Quite extraordinary.
We circled back down to the town and still had time for some more exploring. So we drove down to a small park area on the shore near the house we were staying in to have a nose about. We drove a little way along increasingly rural roads and then turned back and got out for a walk.
This was serendipitous as we stumbled across a frisbee golf course. I’d never seen one before, but Martin had, and indeed had played one.
The only thing we were missing was a frisbee. I suppose we should have invested in such, to go with the boogie board. We will know for next time to put one on our essential kit list.
All explored out, we returned to find our better halves enjoying some peace and quiet and immersed in books with the fire blazing.
We didn’t see any of the forecast snow appear, but it was instead a lovely clear and crisp night. The weather is a fickle mistress. So we shared an excellent bottle of Pinot Noir of the same name and that led us to our own version of the Dark Sky project.
We will try the real thing next time.
The Lawsons on the Loose 