Lake Tekapo and Mount Cook

One thing that truly strikes me about NZ is that there are endless spots with absolutely breathtaking views... with very little in the way of luxury hotels or fancy dining.  Lake Tekapo and Mount Cook are perfect examples of such places.  They are absolutely stunning places.  Lake Tekapo reminds me a little of Lake Louise.  It is a gorgeous turquoise lake with huge snow capped mountains in the background.  But the town consists of 2 cafes, 2 souvineer shops, 1 pub, a gas station, and a few mid-range restaurants.  There is, maybe 1 or 2 decent hotels, and 2 or 3 hostels and camping sites!!! That's it!!!  Although I spent less time in the town near Mount Cook, it wasn't much different.  Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand, and absolutely stunning... but there are few things in the town other than a small school and likely a few restaurants.

In many ways, this remoteness and lack of glitz is better because it creates a truly authentic and rugged feel to the journey.  But as a business/law student, it really blows my mind and I can't seem to figure out the reason.   Is there a lack of demand?  Legal barriers? Are people culturally uninterested in fine dining and luxury?  Can people not afford it?  I still don't have any answers...  but feel free to suggest explanations.

In any event, my weekend trip to Lake Tekapo and Mount Cook was truly a blast!!!  8 girls, and 1 guy, left Friday afternoon for the 3 hour drive to Lake Tekapo.  We arrived just before the sunset, and were able to get a few quick looks at the gorgeous view.

A few of the girls had purchased ingredients to make a pizza, and we had a pizza party at the hostel.  I also had some wine that I had brought with me and we had a fun night chatting.

The next morning, we woke up and had some coffee and a cute little cafe in town before departing for our hike up Mount St. John.  The hike was about 2 hours return trip, but the view was breathtaking at the summit. We spent a whiel taking pictures, and I had a delicious muffin and coffee at the cafe on top.

After the hike, people ate lunch at the hostel and then we drove around the area to see some of the other nearby lakes (Lake Alexandrina and Lake McGregor)-- only non-motorized boats are allowed in these lakes.  We also drove through some stunning landscapes and stopped for some pictures.

In the afternoon we decided to take the plunge and dipped into the FREEEZZINNGGG cold Lake Tekapo water.  A few of us subsequently went to the nearby hot pools to warm up, while others played some mini-golf.  We then all met up for a delicious Thai dinner, sat at the local pub, and then admired the stunning night sky on the way back to our hostel.  Apparently Lake Tekapo is a "sky reserve" (whatever that actually means) and there was an absolutely stunning night sky with more starts than I ever remember seeing.

 The next morning we woke up for sunrise (yikes) and brought out blankets to watch the sunrise next to a gorgeous little church by the water. The sunrise was beautiful, but nothing out of the ordinary.   We later grabbed a coffee break at our favourite little cafe where I got this awesome looking design in my coffee-- the coolest I've seen yet!!!

Coolest coffee design yet!!!  Octupus???

We then drove to Mount Cook. The drive was magnificent and we couldn't help but stop along the way and admire the views.  At one point, the highway was blocked by a herd of sheep being pushed along by their sheep herder and dogs.  There were so many sheep that it looked more like a sheep migration!!!

We finally arrived at Mount Cook and went for a tramp around the area.  It was stunning and the weather was beautiful.  Check out these views!!!

Mount Cook

On the drive home we stopped for a few moments at the Moraki Boulders because they were on the way.  It a sight that I had been hearing about, and it is pretty cool... but I've been so spoiled by my weekend sightings that it was a little anti-climactic.  Nice to knock it off the list anyhow though, and this way I didn't have to go out of my way to see them.

And that is what I call a pretty UNBELIEVABLE weekend!!!  Earth is crazy.