Akaroa – Lake Tekapo

5 February – 10 February

Saturday:

We’ve ‘ahem’ run out of bread for breakfast, which is the perfect excuse (and not in any way manufactured) to return to our favourite café for poached eggs on toast.  They don’t disappoint.

We’re all packed up and checked out of the hostel.  First stop is the supermarket to load up on groceries and useful stuff.  Then we head towards Akaroa.   Again, it’s a lovely scenic drive.  Nick assures me it looks a lot like the Scottish highlands.  I’ve not been, so I take his word for it.

We stop for lunch on the banks of the harbour.  My obsession with weird fruits has led me to the kiwano.  It looks spiky and supposedly tastes like a cross between a banana and a lemon, with the consistency of a cucumber.   And no, that’s not a good combination.

It’s a short drive into town from there and we head for a campsite.  We’ve decided to take the soft route and get a cabin – we’re not sure that New Zealand weather is suitable for camping (in a little 2 man tent).  We’re out of luck though and all cabins are taken, so it’s camping for us after all.  On the plus side, the weather has turned good and we’ve got a couple of warm days ahead of us.  Also, the views from the campsite are pretty good.

After setting up camp we’re so hot we take a walk to the town beach for a swim.  The water is, to put it politely, bracing, but it cools us down.  I would’ve stayed in longer, but a cheeky crab pinching my foot chases me out.  Nick thinks it’s hilarious.

I squeeze in another little jog and then sit back with a beer.

Janet adds: score 1 for Australia.  New Zealanders seem to love their camping, but aren’t very set up for it.  Whereas the Australians are almost completely self-sufficient, we’ve had to queue for showers, stoves, sinks, tables, the lot.

Sunday:

We kept waiting for it to cool down last night, but it didn’t really and we wake up to another gorgeous day.  This is especially good as we’ve booked to go on a ‘swimming with dolphins’ tour.  I’m usually a bit sceptical about tours like this as I do worry about how they’re run and the impact it has on the dolphins.  This looks like a goodie though.  The dolphins are completely wild – they’re not fed or enticed over in any way. 

First things first though: we need to get kitted up.  Although it’s blazing sunshine and hot, the water is still COLD, so we need to be shoe-horned into 5mm wetsuits.  Once that’s done it’s time to board our boat and head out.  There are only about 10 of us, so it’s a nice small group.  We cruise about Akaroa harbour until we find some dolphins that seem a bit interested in us (rule 1: the dolphins must show a ‘positive reaction’ before we get in the water with them).  Then we all pile into the water.  We’re told to sing into our snorkels or tap our masks to make us ‘more interesting than seaweed to the dolphins’.  It seems to work and soon the dolphins are coming over to check us out.  These are Hector’s dolphins: some of the smallest and most endangered in the world.  They’re very inquisitive and charming.   I’d expected to see them from a couple of meters off, but they swim by within inches sometimes (although strictly no touching!). They take a particular shining to Nick, who seems to be surrounded with them almost constantly.  We even have a couple of penguins coming over for a look.  It’s a sublime, heart-warming experience.

After about 45mins in the water we’re loaded back onto the boat for a welcome hot chocolate before cruising into the harbour.

We decide to spend the rest of the afternoon on a scenic drive around the peninsula.  We don’t have a brilliant map and find ourselves almost accidentally in Le Bons Bay – it’s not your typical white sand lined with palm trees beach, but with it’s gorgeous waves and wild, mountainous setting it’s a serious contender for my top ten faves. We surprise ourselves by braving the water sans wetsuits for a fun splash around.  Nick finds it a bit less funny when his swim is brought to an end by a swift pincer to the foot from a passing crab.

We head back to Akaroa via Okains Bay (another lovely beach).

Monday:

Although it was lovely and warm when we went to bed last night, we both wake up in the early hours feeling a wee bit chilly.  Luckily it’s nothing that another layer of clothes, another layer of blankets and closing down the air vents on the tent can’t fix.  We’re snug enough to sleep well after this, but wake up to rain. 

As it doesn’t show any sign of letting up, we resign ourselves to getting packed up in the rain.  It’s not a major problem, but makes us think that we might want to get booked into somewhere with a roof for tonight. 

After a couple of false starts we get put onto the lovely Erin, who has a self-contained unit for us on the banks of Lake Tekapo, where we’re headed next.  It’s a good deal and close enough to explore nearby Mt Cook, so we book in for 4 nights. 

We drive via Christchurch to stock up on groceries and arrive in the late afternoon.  After a day of rain the sun is finally out and it’s a beautiful scene: the blue glacial lake surrounded by mountains (some snow-capped).

Erin is the perfect hostess – welcoming without being overbearing.  She offers us some fresh rhubarb from the garden.  When I admit to not knowing how to cook it, she returns a bit later with a freshly baked rhubarb sponge.  Then we sit back to admire the views from our cottage.

Tuesday:

We wake up to a bright, if somewhat chilly morning.  As we’re in an idyllic setting, I decide a jog along the lakeside is in order.    It’s not quite as idyllic as I’d imagined though, firstly because running is hard work and not much fun, secondly because within ten minutes I’ve nose-dived and severely injured my pride.

It’s nothing that scrambled eggs on toast can’t fix.  After a bit of a slow morning we climb up nearby Mt John for 360-degree views of the area.  It’s a good spot to stop for lunch. 

Have I mentioned that it’s beautiful?  We take the long route down and loop along the lakeshore back to our cabin. 

Janet adds: still trying to get my head around the weather here.  It’s warm and sunny during the day, but icy cold from about 5pm till 9am (even though it stays light till 8.30pm or so).  The clear night skies are something else though.

Wednesday:

We’re up and away fairly early today: driving the 100km or so to Mt Cook.  From about 50km away it dominates the horizon with its snowy peak.  As we’re not experienced alpine climbers we can’t climb the mountain itself and so make do with rambling round its base. 

We do the 3-4hr Hooker Valley walk, which takes us across 2 swing bridges and to 2 glacial lakes.  The scenery is stunning, but the path is a little too well trafficked for my liking.  Still, it’s another good spot to stop for lunch.

After a little rest we take a shorter walk to the Tasman Glacier lake for a different view of Mt Cook and to watch ice-bergs floating by.

Thursday:

Today we’re just plain lazy.  I do manage a quick run which goes better than the last one (i.e. I don’t fall over), but a large portion of the day is spent on planning.  Before we leave New Zealand we pretty much need to have our itinerary sorted all the way back to the UK, so there are a lot of distances to check and maps to play around with. 

In the afternoon we do take a stroll down to the lake for a swim.  It’s another gorgeous day and the water is inviting, but so cold (it is a glacial lake after all). 

When I finally get my head underwater it literally takes my breath away.  I’m doing alright though – Nick is convinced that his heart is slowing down and that he only needs to breathe every few minutes.  I do enjoy my swim, and enjoy even more the hour or so spent bringing myself back from the brink of hypothermia in the warm sunshine.

Tomorrow we’re leaving Lake Tekapo and heading back to the coast, but with a bed booked for the next 3 nights we can turn our attention back to the calendar and google maps.