Chapter Seven - Lakes, Mountains, Icebergs and Penguins

The first couple of days have been dominated my lakes and mountains as well as joy and disappointment.

My wander along the Onawe Peninsula track was amazing although the journey there a little scary. The road turned from tarmac to narrow gravel which ran uncomfortably close to the shore line...... If I had gone the wrong way I was going to have to make a 600 point turn!.... I held my nerve and with relief the road turned in to a huge car park... Phew!

The sun shone. The scenery reflected in the flat calm water and geological features thrilled. A fab start to my first full day. A very happy camper.

Next the drive south to Lake

Tekapo to see the Church of the Good Shepherd.... if you have seen jaw dropping Astro pics of a star studded sky arching over a small church like building then it’s probably the same place.

At this point I should mention that my travel itinerary has been largely influenced by a Photography blog I read over a year ago written by Rach Stewart.... (this lady takes awesome images.... google her website!) and, of course, the more usual assortment of travel guides..... I have come here to see, and hopefully capture, some epic scenery and iconic locations, inspired by Rach Stewart.

Well, seeing the church was more like seeing the pyramids..... built up, overcrowded so a very specific camera angle is required to fool you into that desolate feeling and sadly I was unable to achieve this. The skies were also cloudy so waiting until dark to see stars was going to be pointless so I pushed on to Lake Pukaki.

Consolation was found. Lake Pukaki was beautiful with a lovely freedom camping spot to spend the night too. Waking to sunny skies the lake shone the most beautiful blue colour with Mount Cook, covered in snow, in the background.

The Hooker Valley Track is stunning, even the drive to the start of the walk was 40km of WOW! The track is a 10 km tramp over swing bridges, alpine streams, culminating in a glacial

lake complete with small icebergs. An ideal spot to snack on the compulsory cheese and pickle sandwich before retracing my steps back down #overachiever

To complete the day I headed for Oamaru, the home of the little blue penguin. Oamaru itself is an odd place but the campsite was clean, compact with is own resident penguins. I sat for over an hour in the dark watching two chicks pacing around waiting for parents to return with food... it was funny watching 10-12 little penguins waddle through the campsite and then get mobbed by chicks. A lovely close encounter but no photos as flash is obviously not allowed. Fabulous!