Hamner Springs to Lake Tekapo

We went back down the highway and bypassed Christchurch this time heading south. As we travelled the weather got worse and we had torrential rain for mile after mile. We could no longer see any mountains but didn’t know if there were none or if we just couldn’t see them due to the mist that accompanied the rain. After a five hour drive we eventually arrived minus the rain at Lake Tekapo and boy was it worth it. We thought we had seen some amazing scenery and mountains but nothing compared with this and to top it all our room overlooked the lake (we had to do a little bit of bargaining for this). I needed to do some ironing and thought to myself if I had this view at home ironing would no longer be a chore. Lake Tekapo is 710m above sea level and is coloured a beautiful turquoise which is created by ‘rock flour’. Glaciers in the headwaters of Tekapo grind rock into fine dust on their journey down towards the lake. This ‘rock flour’ is suspended in the water and when combined with sunlight creates the unique water colour.
This morning as the mountains were not clear enough for a flight we decided that we would embark on the climb up to the summit of Mt John (1043m above sea level) and although it was pretty steep and with some rather sheer drops we managed to get to the top where the observatory is. From the top we had a 360 degree view of the surrounding area. Next decision – should we go back the way we came or go further on and return via the lake side, we decide on the latter stopping on the way for a picnic lunch. Four and half hours later we returned tired and weary but rather pleased that we had managed to do the round trip.