Lake Tekapo and the Godley Valley 4WD
Wednesday 27th February to Friday 1st
March 2013
Day of Trip = 60 - 62
It’s a pretty cruisy drive from Christchurch to Lake Tekapo…we
are amazed by the straight long roads through the Canterbury plains! We have an
obligatory stop in Ashburton (Haden wanted to buy a very specific hat…don’t
ask!)…and we notice the weather is definitely getting chillier! It’s a grey day
in this small farming town.
Our ultimate destination however is right in the southern
alps…Tekapo. It’s a very small town with a resident population of only 380
people, but has a couple cool things to boast about:
- Lake Tekapo – a stunning turquoise lake (we
learnt the colour comes from the bits of rock the glacier has hewn off over
time - suspended in the water and reflecting the sun)
- Mt John Observatory – chosen for it’s solitude,
altitude (1300m), frequent clear nights and lack of light pollution, its one of
the best places in the world to see the stars in all their glory
- Tekapo Hot Springs
In our short time here we take full advantage of the sights!
We have a quick dip in the lake (not as cold as Lake Tennyson yay!), a long
soak in the hot springs, and we go on a tour of the night sky at the
observatory. The biggest telescope in NZ is up this hill but on clear nights it’s
used purely for research purposes (not tourists). We do get a very cool
explanation of the constellations (Orion, Gemini, Taurus etc,) and we get close
up views through other very big telescopes of nebulae and Jupiter and of course
our moon! Very cool.
Next stop gets Haden frothing at the mouth…a 4WD adventure
up the Godley valley! It’s a road that travels around Lake Tekapo then heads
north into the Alps, along an old river bed to finish at the base of Godley
glacier. The road starts as gravel, throws in several river crossings, then
becomes very rough indeed the track is washed out in several places so you just had to find your own way – after the red stag hut the going gets very tough where we have to navigate through a maze of
boulders. It’s a rough ride! Pretty spectacular views at the end, and its
absolute peace and solitude, we pass only a single farmer the entire way. Even
less light pollution than Tekapo, the night sky is stunning. The night was so quiet we could hear distant rock falls in the mountains, quite eerie.
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