A frantic drive to Lake Tekapo from Christchurch, I touched upon it before in the van blog, but Rhiannon spent the entire drive in the 'brace' position and refused to even put the radio on for three quarters of the journey in case it distacted me, or her. or the other drivers, I don't know.

It was raining by the time we got there which didn't really bode well for the first night in the van, but I think it went ok, the bed is actually pretty big so we got a good night's sleep. Well I did anyway, can't really speak for Rhiannon, but the driver is the most important person surely!

Next morning and the sun was out and Lake Tekapo was seen in all it's glory and it really is amazing. Due some naturally occuring chemicals in it the water appears incredibly blue, very very blue in fact. Take the bluest thing you've seen; a blue sky perhaps them multiply the blueness by ten. I've lost myself there a bit but you get the drift. We went on a three hour hike around the water and up the nearby mountains, it was pretty tiring for two unfit types like us but well worth it. The views we had were absolutely spectacular and we probably could have spent hours in the sun on top of the hill just looking out onto the lake and the surrounding mountains. The photos we have really don't do it justice unfortunately. This was the first scenic location we hit in New Zealand and writing this two weeks later it remains one of the best.

Still, no time to hang around and it was back in the van for a shortish drive to Mount Cook which is the highest mountain in New Zealand. Fortunately for us the weather was superb and we could actually see the top of it, a truly awe inspiring sight. That night we ate in a cafe staring out as the sun set over the mountains having sunbathed away the afternoon under clear blue skies.

The next day we actually went up to it to walk to it and wouldn't you know that it had clouded over a bit and you couldn't see the top so our photos aren't that good. Schoolboy error on our part. Anyway more walking, some photos and then back in the van again to drive to Omaru some 215km away. Muggins here back in the driving seat which I loved as there are hardly any cars on the road so it is an absolute piece of p1ss as we flew past lakes, mountains, well you get the drift.