Lake Tekapo

It's been a hectic week since arriving in the South Island and now we're off to brave the Southern Alps and see Aoraki/Mt Cook. We'd been a bit apprehensive about driving up in the mountains as we had seen earlier in the week that the Lewis and Arthur's Passes had been closed due to heavy snow fall, which even reached as far down as Queenstown. The general advice for driving on the mountainous roads was to watch for ice and to carry snow chains!

Not sure what to expect for the drive up to Lake Tekapo, we found a  freephone number (0800 44 44 49) for the New Zealand Transport Agency which gives useful advice on the latest road conditions. As it turned out, all our fretting was for nothing as the roads weren't particuarly twisty and there was only a little ice on the side of the roads where the sun hadn't reached the shaded areas.

Lake Tekapo is a small township (with a permanent population of just 318!) on the southern shore of it's namesake, 710 metres above sea level. The name derives from the Māori "taka" (sleeping mat) and "po" (night) suggesting that this place has been long used a stopover point in the heart of Mackenzie Country.


A panoramic view at the southern shore of Lake Tekapo - click here to view in hi-res

A golden sunset over Lake Tekapo

The lake itself lies in a trough scoured by the Tekapo Glacier during the most recent ice age, approx. 15,000-25,000 years ago. As the climate warmed, the Tekapo Glacier retreated up the Godley Valley where it now exists as the Classen, Maud, Grey and Godley Glaciers, which are all the source of the Godley River that feeds into Lake Tekapo. It pretty hard to imagine that there was once a glacier in it's place but I think we'll get a pretty good idea when we head over to Aoraki/Mt Cook and if we see the glaciers on the West Coast.

The turquoise-blue colour of the lake is created by "rock flour" - this when the glaciers in the headwaters of Tekapo grind rock into a fine dust on their journey down towards the lake. These microscopic rock particles give the ice-fed waters of the lake it's unique water colour when reflecting the sunlight.

In all honesty I was a little disappointed that the lake wasn't more striking or as vibrant as some of the photos I have seen but this might be because we're looking at the wrong time of year or even that the photos we've seen have been overly photoshopped...

As we heard that the walk to the Mt John lookout is one of the best in the area, we decided to give it a try for our first full day in Lake Tekapo. Starting off at the Winter Park complex off Lakeside Drive, we decided to walk up through the larch trees via the Summit Circuit Track, however, it was really slippery to begin with walking on the compacted snow and ice!

Crampons would have been useful for climbing this icy slope!

Looking over the lake through the tree line

Mt John is 1031m above sea level and from what I read in a Department of Conservation leaflet, it's a roche moutonnée (small dome) formed by glacial ice flowing over it. The mountain was named after an early farmer in the district, John Hay, who used to run Tekapo Station, the first sheep farm in the Mackenzie Basin. Seeing as were already 710m above sea level to begin with it would only be another 321m to the top!

It was hard work getting through the forest but once we reached the top it was definitely worth the effort as there's a viewing platform where you can get spectacular 360 degree panoramic views of the surrounding mountains, Lake Tekapo and Alexandrina, and across the Mackenzie Basin flats.

The observation point above the larches



On the summit of Mt John



View of Lake Tekapo from the top of Mt John - click here to view in hi-res

Panoramic view of the Southern Alps looking west- click here to view in hi-res

The Southern Alps extend as far as the eye can see

After soaking up the views, we then had a cup of tea and hot chocolate at the Astro Café by the Mt John University Observatory, which is operated by The University of Canterbury Department of Physics and Astronomy.

The internationally renowned Mt John University Observatory 

Bit strange that the observatory doesn't want any aliens visitors!

Lizzie at the Mt John trig point

Mt John was chosen as the best site for an observatory housing the largest telescope in New Zealand due to the latitudinal position of the Mackenzie Basin as the southern sky can be seen continously throughout the year. Lake Tekapo also has a uniquely dark sky due to the stability and transparency of the atmosphere. UNESCO World Heritage status is currently being sought for the area as the first starlight preservation reserve.

View across to Motuariki Island ("motu" - island & "ariki' - chief)

Lake Alexandrina to the left and Lake Tekapo on the right

Continuing on from the summit, we then followed the track back down the eastern face of Mt John to the lakeshore. The further we walked round the lake the more stunning it became with the light of the setting sun shining over the mountains on the western shore and the moon rising from behind Mt Hay - it was a great way to finish the walk.

Mt Hay dominates over the eastern shore at 1173m

As mentioned previously, Lake Tekapo is one of the best places for observing the evening sky, party due to the consistently high ratio of clear nights, as well as being reputed to have the cleanest air in the southern hemisphere.

The night sky shot from Tailor-Made Backpackers

Lake Tekapo is reputedly one of the best stargazing sites in NZ

So, that evening we had an astrophotography lesson with renowned local photographer Fraser Gunn. As the moon was almost in its full phase and it was a clear night we took some detailed shots of the moon's surface in particular of the crater Copernicus, as well as a "nearby" star cluster M4 in the Scorpius constellation.

A near perfect full moon shot through a Tele Vue-60is telescope

Copernicus impact crater which can be viewed on Google Moon 

M4 is one of the largest globular star clusters in our galaxy

As part of the lesson we were shown how to set up the camera attached to the telescope, align it and focus it on the moon or stars using some pretty nifty software, as well as processing several images on some photo editing software. It was massively geeky but very cool at the same time - I think I found my new expensive hobby!

Fraser explained that through his portfolio of work he was noticed by Mt John Observatory and was offered a job to be an astrophotographer. He also showed us some of the time lapse animations he created to show how the stars move on the earth's axis throughout the night as well as some amazing videos of the Aurora Australis (Southern Lights) over Lake Tekapo.

It was definitely the best two and half hours we spent and excellent value for money, as it was $40 for the first hour and then $20 per hour there after. If you ever stop through Lake Tekapo be sure to check if Fraser has availability as it's a much cheaper to way to do some star gazing than on one of the tours at the Mt John Observatory.

On our last full day in Lake Tekapo, we had read that down by Pioneer Drive, there's a sheepdog memorial and small stone church called the Church of the Good Shepherd (although unrelated to each other), which are both significant to the area, so we went down to the lakefront to try and find out more. The border collie statue was created as a monument by the run-holders of Mackenzie Country as a tribute to the farm dogs who made it possible for grazing on the mountains to take place.

Lizzie with one of the best known public monuments in New Zealand

A tribute to the farmer's best friend

The Church of the Good Shepherd is possibly one of the most photographed churches in New Zealand but trying to get a picture of the church without a hundred tourists in the shot was an absolute farce. Wave after wave of tour groups were being dropped off with people clambering to get a shot of the border collie statue, the lake and especially the church.

It's a very nice church but I don't quite understand what makes it such an important place for everyone to stop and see as they arrive into Lake Tekapo - it couldn't be for religious reasons as there were quite a few Asian tourists posing in front of the altar. One girl even asked if she could pay for $6 worth of postcards by EFTPOS or credit card - bearing in mind that Lake Tekapo is so small it doesn't have any banking facilities in the village!

One of the few shots of the church that I managed to get was of the view behind the altar, which perfectly frames the lake and the surround mountains. Giving up in frustration in trying to get a shot of the church without some random person photobombing it, we decided to do some snow tubing and check at the thermal pools at Tekapo Springs instead!

The alter at the Church of the Good Shepherd

One of the many consecutive coach loads of tourists at the church

A journey through the red zone

Picture the scene, you're in the middle of a city and it looks something out of an apocalypse film, empty derelict buildings, boarded up houses, barracades and warning signs everywhere. This is pretty much how central Christchurch looks 18 months on since the 6.3 magnitude earthquake which devastated the city on 22^nd February 2011.

A poignant memorial by the Oxford Terrace Baptist Church

Punting down the River Avon used to be one of the main tourist attractions, now, it's touring the borders of the red zone - these are the areas of the city which are off limit as they're too dangerous to walk through. There's a morbid curiousity which draws people to see how little has changed since the earthquake, which claimed 185 lives. Some people were even cruising around the red zone from the comfort of their cars where possible which makes the situation even more bizarre - more recently it was announced that CERA (the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority) were running bus tours through the red zone. It might seem hypocritical that we did our own tour round the infamous red zone but it was more of a way of reacquainting ourselves with the city we saw when we first arrived in New Zealand 5 years ago and seeing what remained of the Christchurch we used to know. Some of the photos that I took on our first trip can be viewed here.

Christchurch CDB red zone taken from the Rebuild Christchurch website

It wasn't surprising that we hardly recognised where we were, empty plots of land lie where buildings used to be, certain main roads are fenced off and it's hard to tell what is earthquake damage and what is general reconstruction. More than half of the earthquake’s death toll (across 20 nationalities) occurred in the poorly constructed Canterbury TV building. Even the hostel we originally stayed at on Gloucester Street (Stonehurst Accommodation), no longer exists as it was too badly damaged to be salvaged.

The defunct Stonehurst Accomodation - source telegraph.co.uk

The worst affected area of the Central Business District is down by Cathdral Square which has been completely devestated. The once magnificent catherdral that stood on the square is now a shadow of it's former self. I have memories of taking photos on the Square whilst watching the "Wizard of Christchurch" giving a speech to a crowd of visitors, as a chess player pondered his next move whilst a vintage tram passed by. Christchurch is a very different place today, not quite the "vibrant city in transition" that the tourism collateral portrays it to be - sorry Lonely Planet but this just isn't the case.

The front of the cathedral where the spire used to stand and The Chalice

Aftershocks degraded the building before the Rose Window could be saved

The Citizen's War Memorial in front of the Cathedral 

It's not all doom and gloom though, as there are signs of regeneration, but at a slow pace. Maybe it's because of the current economic climate, down to bureaucracy or even waiting for all the seismic activity to settle (apparently there have been some big aftershocks since the earthquake) but it's getting in the way of decisions about what to do with the rebuilding the city. We saw some graffiti down by the High Street showing the general disatisfaction at how long its taking to deal with the damaged buidlings and get back to a sense of normality. It has been estimated that the earthquake is the third most expensive natural disaster in history, potentially costing over $20 billion NZD to rebuild the city, which gives you a bit of perspective as to how big the task at hand is.

In terms of the cathedral, the last I heard was that it had been deconsecrated on 9^th November 2011 and that it will eventually be pulled down, however, another one won't be rebuilt in it's place. This caused a lot of public outcry and opposition from groups such as the UNESCO World Heritage Centre calling for the landmark cathedral to be saved as it would testify to history and continuity of cultural life, that a brand new building wouldn't be able to convey.

Down by Cashel Street, near the Bridge of Remeberamce is a temporary "pop up village" called Re:START, which is next to where the old shopping precinct used to be. Opened at the end of October 2011, it's a novel idea as all the 29 retail units are based in vibrant colourful shipping containers designed to bring commercial life back to the CBD.

The Bridge of Remembrance at the end of the Cashel Mall

Cashel Street looking back towards the Bridge of Remembrance 

The precinct includes a variety of retailers to boost the local economy

There's plenty of outdoor space to enjoy a coffee at one of the cafés

The earthquake devastated end of Cashel Street in the red zone

Hawke's Bay and Christchurch both share both share a common and tragic bond, however, if any lessons from the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake can be learnt, the rebuilding of Napier and Hastings presented unique opportunities for the replacement of the city centres. Architectural practices in Napier collaborated to share resources and ideas to design some of the most striking Art Deco and Spanish Mission style buildings of the time, in an era of economic depression where few insurance policies covered earthquakes. Truth be told, Christchurch wasn't really a city that appealed to my interests before the earthquake, but having seen what it is like now I feel a great sense of loss especially as it will be a long time before we see the new Christchurch, maybe even decades...

To the left, the Gothic Revival Trinity Church minus the collapsed tower

The relatively unscathed Spanish Mission façades of New Regent Street

The cordoned off area between Oxford Terrace and Hereford St

Michael Parekowhai's bronze bull at a vacant plot on Madras Street

It's odd which buildings survived but generally the older ones fared better

The remains of the Durham Street Methodist Mission offices  

A residential building which is clearly sinking on its foundations

Yellow placard declaring this home unsafe amongst hundreds of others

On a more positive note, the main reason why we came to Christchurch was to see the Crusaders play the Hurricanes in their new home ground, the AMI Stadium in Addington, for the very first time. Lancaster Park, the original home ground of the Crusaders was badly damaged in the February 2011 earthquake and as a result all the games scheduled in Christchurch for the Rugby World Cup had to be relocated. The match was also a special occasion for the Hurricanes as it was the first time they played in Christchurch since 2009. Last year the teams only played one of their two scheduled matches, after the February earthquake caused the first game to be cancelled and declared a draw. For us this will be the second time we've seen the Crusaders play in New Zealand as we saw them play the Chiefs at McLean Park in Napier for their first "home" game of the season.

As part of the pre-match building up a horseman circles the field whipping up the crowd!

More "knights" on horseback coming out to Conquest of Paradise by Greek composer, Vangelis

Us with our free foam swords!

View from the West Stand

It was a close game but the Hurricanes just edged the match on a penalty and won 23-22. We were absolutely freezing sitting in the open air West Stand for 80 minutes as the temperature dropped to -3^oC!