After Christchurch we moved on to Lake Tekapo. The staff at the Youth Hostel had obviously been informed that a VIB (very important bear) was coming as we got the best room in the place complete with lakeside views.
The lake is an amazing blue colour caused by a mixture of glacial melt water (containing rock flour) mixing with fresh rain water. It reflects back just the blue light apparently.
We used Lake Tekapo for our base to visit Mount Cook - the highest peak in New Zealand - and the Tasman Glacier. On Saturday we drove to Mount Cook where we picked up a bus that took us to a car park in the middle of nowhere. Softy and I took a ride in the backpack as Fiona and the other people walked to a lake formed by the melting glacier. The colour of this lake was a stoney white colour - not at all like the blue we had got used to recently.
At this point things went a bit wrong as yet another water activity beckoned. Softy and I were left in a shed as Fiona, Kate and the other people went for a trip on the lake. They dodged in and out amongst the icebergs and even got to eat a bit of one. After about an hour of sightseeing they had a fast boat ride back to the jetty where we were picked up and taken home again.
As usual you can see a few more photos here.
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