Off to Tekapo and a Big Walk up Mt John

Wednesday 6 May

With our power reserves falling as our solar was failing to keep up due the short number of sunshine hours and the low angle of the sun, we packed up a couple of days earlier than planned and set off south down the edge of Lake Pukaki and east to Tekapo for the NZMCA park where we could top up with a generator. There were hints of blue overhead as we packed up Banjo (after scrambled eggs for breakfast) but not enough for the solar panels to be happy. I talked Banjo & ELLAMY through the tricky ford out of the camp on the walkie talkie radios - we have semi-off road clearance but only about 5cm between the lip of the ford and our grey water outlet tap.

It was all rather monochrome as we looked out across Lake Pukaki to see Aoraki at the top of the lake. Fascinating - there was a little pyramid of dark grey cloud over Aoraki which got blown off course as we drove along the base of the lake, at one point it looked like a jaunty little cap! Even Lake Tekapo had lost its customary colour as we dropped into town.

Never seen it so empty at the NZMCA at Tekapo over on Lilybank Road - we arrived just before 11am to find just two other vans onsite! Settled in, put out the solar blanket, ran the generator for 2 hours & had lunch.

Around 1.30 we headed into town, parked up by Tekapo Springs hot pools, I strapped on my Spiderman leg braces, grabbed a walking pole and we set off along the Mt John Walkway - up to the observatory at the top (with the Astro Cafe ☕️ 🍪)

The first part of the walk was quite a climb up through the larch forests above the pools, zigzagging back and forth. Finally we popped up at the top of the forest, only to be faced with a bunch of steps climbing up through the tussock grass towards the Observatory. It was a chilly day but were were shedding layers all the way up as it was quite an effort.

I was very excited to see the sign for the Astro Cafe - only 150m to go - but less excited to see a huge queue in front of us... and then a guy popped out of the kitchen to say orders closed in 5 minutes! By a miracle we were the last people to place a drinks order, after us it was cabinet food or bottles of drink from the fridge only. We got to enjoy a cup of tea, a cookie and a muffin on the deck overlooking the lake, then got a pic by the Trig Point for cousin Nick (he produces a wine called Trig Point in honour of Uncle Don who was a surveyor for many decades), before picking up the trail again.

We walked out along the peninsula, with Lakes Alexandrina and McGregor on our left, and Lake Tekapo o our right, then doubled back along the lakeshore, on a stony farm track set about 30m or more above the lake. I was glad I’d got my spiderweb knee braces and walking pole - my knees hate a long & lumpy downhill path - but just look at that view!

It was a cloudy day so the views were a little curtailed, but it was fascinating watching the play of light over the surrounding landscapes. As we walked, the sun peeked through breaks in the cloud, lighting up different strips of the lake shore around us in long thin narrow bands. The final shot above was a zoom up to the Godley River Valley at the start of Lake Tekapo where we went exploring with the Fernandi & Tomkinsons about 10 weeks ago.

All in all, we covered about 8.5km and 375 metres of elevation gain in around 3 hours (including a tea break!) Almost back at the start of the loop - we passed through the edge of the larches (the only deciduous conifer, and Monty Python's favourite tree), spotted a beautifully carved memorial to Michael Mulcare who drowned in the lake in 1975 and marvelled at an amber leafed silver birch tree 💛🧡 - and then we were done.

Back at ELLAMY we spotted a gorgeous chocolate lab and his mum who walked over to say hello - turned out she recognised our rego from some Banjo's Odyssey posts. Had a lovely chat with Monique and Moose from Nomadlab Moose - they were travellers like us, but “accidentally” got stuck in Tekapo for a year or two because they love it here so much!

Back at Banjo there were a few more neighbours at the NZMCA park - but only 8 of us in total. Cooked up chilli lime chicken nachos for dinner then watched “The Fifth Element” for the eleventy millionth time… just because!