Tekapo and Mt. John

Lake Tekapo is a beautiful long lake with a little town at the end called Tekapo. We drove alongside the lake to the bottom of Mt. John. Not a mountain like Mt. Cook, more of a big bump above a very flat landscape. It was left over from the glacial age and is now one of only 5 international dark sky reserve sites in the world. 

We hiked to the top in 50 minutes with the promise of lattes once we got there. Actually a stunning view and we were all so thankful to finally have a dry sunny day . The University of Canterbury has an observatory at the top but we headed right for the Astro Cafe with its 360 degree view.

It was stunning so you can just imagine what it would be like when the clouds lift. The mountains from Mt. Cook Park are right there. After our lattes we did a summit path around the top then back down the same path we came up.

Wendy found a spear grass and got this pic. We had seen it before on the plains but not close enough to get a picture. As you can see you would not want to tangle with it; it's aptly named. 

After we hiked back down we headed over to the Church of the Good Shepherd on the shores of lake Tekapo. It was built in 1935 of stone and oak and seems to be THE place for tour busses so it was swarming with those pesky tourists! It is very cute though and is unusual in that behind the altar there is a picture window looking straight up the lake. Beautiful. 

The lakes in this area: Lake Tekapo and the larger lake we went by yesterday Lake Pukaki are an incredible color of turquoise. This is the result of "rock flour", the sediment in the water which causes a milky quality and refracts the sunlight. Whatever the cause, it's beautiful to see.

We headed off again in our bus, stopping at the town of Geraldine for a late lunch. We had a little time here so Wendy went off to a very strange shop with an equally strange man who has created a replica of the Bayeux tapestry in his wool shop. 

This guy spent 25 years making a copy of the tapestry out of tiny little metal pieces (actually the teeth from cogs from knitting machines) which he put onto wide masking tape, and then painted the images onto the surface. Because the original tapestry doesn't go to the end of the whole story, he created a design to complete the story, almost doubling the length of the piece.  It's all mounted under glass in a back room of his wool shop.  In addition he has hidden a mathematical puzzle within the panels. So far the only people even close to solving this puzzle are all under 14, and probably math wizards in their own right. In May he's taking the whole thing to England to display at Hastings for the 950-year anniversary of the Battle of Hastings. It will also tour other cities in UK. 

Detail of part of one panel. The metal pieces he used are about 2mm square. He also sells a flash drive with all images and extensive historical background. Clicking on a knight in the image will bring up pictures of that knight's home castle and family history. All the books he used in his research are also there. Quite an interesting (and obsessive) fellow! You just never know what you might see in these little towns.

On to Christchurch and our last stop. Hard to believe this 3 week tour is nearly over.

Kia Ora!