Lake Teakpo sits in the centre of the South Island, it’s the gateway to the Southern Alps & Mount Cook. Lake Tekapo is unique for it’s Aqua color, which is caused by the fine glacial flour suspended in the water, it’s very deep and very cold.
We arrive to a calm, serene lake,” want to have lunch by the lake before we swim?”, I ask Cynthia and my sister Sally, we all agree it’s a fine idea and with that, set up a picnic on the beach. Well conditions can change on a dime at Lake Tekapo and that’s just what they do, the wind begins to blow, the lake chops up and the sky darkens, we now have a real cat fight on our hands, me and the lake, “time to get the swim in”, I announce, I love a good lake swim.
Off we go, Lake Tekapo delivers water in the 50s, a menacing wind and plenty of fish to look at while I swim, brilliant!
We finish the day with a hike up Mount John, home to one of world’s largest international starlight reserves, it’s gold status puts it at one of only 4 in the world with this classification, meaning it has the darkest night skies knowen to man, wow, that’s why it looked so cool when I climbed it one New Years Eve as a teenager!
Next up, back into the sea for this Kiwi!