It had finally stopped raining when I woke this morning. I checked out of the hotel and had a quick wander round the town in search of breakfast. The town is quite small, just one row of shops - mainly over priced boutiques trying to attract tourist $s. The town is quite old fashioned, colonial even, reminded me of some parts of America, and with the fall colours of the trees it could have been America.
I was soon on my way towards lake tekapo, a 3-4 hour drive. Part of the route is the same as it was to Dunedin but since I wasn't in a rush this time I was able to stop on the way. The first stop was the kawarau bridge. I stopped here to take photos of the scenery, but seems other people stop here to throw themselves from the bridge as it was/is the worlds first bungy site. I wasn't going to jump, but they also have a flying zip wire which looked fun, but unfortunately the guys were going on their safety break so I wasn't able to.
I drove on, stopping a few times to admire the view. The weather was mixed, sometimes raining, sometimes sunny, sometimes both at the same time! The lakes either side of Twizel were stunning - and so blue - turquoise even. Apart from that there wasn't anything else at Twizel worth stopping for so I drove on to Lake Tekapo. As I drove into town the view was again stunning. The lake is turquoise against a back drop of green and white mountains - and for once I could see the mountains because the clouds had lifted. The pics on my iPhone just don't do it justice. They also don't show how cold it was with an icy wind coming off the snow covered mountains!
I'm staying at the YHA again tonight, and again it's got a view of a lake from the window! This time it has a log fire in the lounge too, as did the pub I went for dinner at, winter is here! I'm hoping for good weather again tomorrow too. I've not got time to drive to see Mount Cook or the Franz Josef Glacier so I'm treating myself to a flight over them both - if the weather is calm enough. Otherwise it's back to Queenstown to do the flying zip wire thing instead!