More Remoteness...

From Wanaka I traveled to Lake Tepako for a quick pitstop. There are only 300 people in Lake Tepako so the size and remoteness was very soothing. The hostel was right on the lake so I was able to drink my coffee/tea in relative piece and quiet with only the occasional sound of a vehicle passing by. Most people only stay in Lake Tepako for a day or two with most people stopping just for a few minutes to see the one attraction the town has to offer - The Church of the Good Shepard. It's a cute, tiny stone church built back in the day for all Christians in the vicinity for worship and it's quite pretty. It took me all of an hour to visit the church and the rest of 'town', grab some groceries and head back to the hostel, which was more like an alpine lodge than anything, very cozy. I made a huge dinner and assembled a jigsaw puzzle next to the fire. Lake Tepako reportedly has the clearest sky in New Zealand and the nighttime sky was so stunning - so many stars! You kinda forget what the night sky looks like with you live in a city due to light pollution. Lake Tepako protects its sky very well, not allowing street lights or anything to interfere with the view above.



The next day I decided to backtrack a bit and visit Mt. Cook before heading to Christchurch. I was fully prepared for a long day on the bus so when a double decker tour bus pulls up and a tour guide appears and comes up to me and says, "Angelia?" I was a bit confused. I was expecting my regular Intercity Bus, so what was going on? Turns out that Intercity partners with other companies that travel the same routes all over NZ (there aren't too many roads so they pretty much all use the same routes!) so I had booked this bus for no extra charge. Sweet! I got on and took up a window seat and we start our way with the driver giving us full commentary the whole way to Mt. Cook. This was great - like getting a day tour without paying for it! We even stops at various spots for a few minutes for photo opportunities. I thought it would be a wasted day traveling, but I luck out again!.

On the way to Mt. Cook we stop to take pics at Lake Pukaki. Like many lakes in this region, it is fed by glacial waters so the color you see is very unique. The water looks a bit milky too and that's due to something called 'glacier flour.' When the glaciers grind again the rocks as they move, the rock is ground into dust that is taken to the lakes and creates this beautiful turquoise color in the sun. It's so amazing! Plus, the water (and all other water in NZ) is so freakin' clear and clean - I'm in awe of it!

We arrived at Mt. Cook and it did not disappoint as well - it was dazzling! It was so awesome to see some snow as I thought I wouldn't see any this year and that made me a bit sad. Mt. Cook is the highest peak in NZ, but is not one of the highest in the world by far (3750 meters approx), but in terms of climbing, it is one of the most dangerous mountains to climb, on par with Denali or Everest. Standing at the foot of it made you feel really insignificant. The ice you see in the pics is about 150 meters thick and if there were people up there climbing you wouldn't be able to see them. A little trivia courtesy of the tour guide - the Maori call Mt. Cook 'Aoraki' meaning 'Cloud Piercer.' I'll need that for my Jeopardy appearance some day. After a sandwich and cappuccino on the deck of the Hermitage Hotel, gazing at the mountains and bit of glacier, it was time to head off for Christchurch. It took a little longer to get to Chirstchurch, but it was definitely worth it!