We awoke on the 2nd of August to a very special occasion. It was master Beans birthday! We weren't exactly anywhere picturesque, but still managed to surprise him with a cake and new ACDC t-shirt which went down well though. After having a quick consultation about our route (due to the unexpected changes) we eventually agreed to make our way to Lake Tekapo.

We were travelling from the eastern coast towards the west to a place that came well recommended for it's beauty by Aly (yet someone else we met in Rarotonga!). It sure didn't disappoint either. The lake was higher above sea level than expected and situated itself in between huge mountain ranges all covered in snow. On arrival we found ourselves gasping at the turquoise blue water created by shards of rock broken away from the glaciers that form the lake. It was unreal and inspired us to spend the day going for a mountain trek up Mt John to get a more birds eye view. After the terribly laborious climb we reached the peak where we found numerous telescopes and observatories along with a cafe. Apparently Tekapo is one of the best places to star gaze on earth because of it's clear night skies.

After a very welcome hot chocolate and some red bull we made our descent planning our evening to celebrate Beans birthday. We were going to go out to Lake Alexandrina to camp up for the night. Yet, disaster struck. We were using an unsealed road to get to the campsite and due to the heavy rainfall me and George's van got stuck in the mud. After trying to push/dig it out we were resigned to call a tow van... BUT! After we'd taken the other van back down to town and called for help, me and George decided to give it one more shot. He rolled it back then gunned it forward with me pushing as hard as I could... And I cant tell you how relieved I was when the van lurched out of the mud and onto solid ground. To tell you the truth, I was also pretty relieved not to be run over! But hey, we cancelled the tow and head back into town for some celebratory drinks, food and a film to ease away the stress!

The next day our bad luck continued as we went down to the alpine centre on the side of Mt John to see if we could go ice skating. Unfortunately though, the recent heavy rain had flooded the rink, killed the hot spring water pumps and washed away the snow from the tubing track... Joy! So we cut short our stay at Tekapo and made our way around to Mt Cook, New Zealand's largest peak! On the drive around, we were greeted with truly gob smacking views of yet more turquoise lakes and snow capped peaks. The road followed a basin around to the bottom of Mt Cook where we parked up our vans in awe of the sheer scale, beauty and magnificence of the landscape ready for what was sure to be a cold night ahead!

The night sure was cold but what can you expect when you're in a tin box around 800m above sea level camped on the side of a snowy mountain?! We survived though, many thanks to the extra blankets and a bit of spooning ;-). That morning we decided to go for another walk along the hooker valley towards a glacier at the base of Mt Cook. The walk was fairly moderate in comparison to the ones we'd done previously. However, I can quite confidently say that it took in some of the best views I have ever seen. The sun was shining, the clouds had cleared and we gazed at huge mountains dusted with snow looking over a magical glacier that ran off down into a valley full of rapids. Scenery like this just typifies the south island and its no wonder all we've heard is rave reviews of the place. Once we'd reached the glacier we were stood staring at a frozen lake with shards of ice measuring around 3 inches thick. The scene was ridiculously peaceful too with not a single noise to pollute the seemingly unreal beauty.