This is my fourth trip to Lake Tekapo. This is the place where I travelled the most in New Zealand and still never get bored, because in my opinion it is the most beautiful and romantic place in New Zealand.
I usually spend 2 to 3 days in Lake Tekapo:
Day 1 – Walk around the lake and visit Church of the Good Shepherd.
Day 2 – Walk to Mt John and have a lunch at Astro Cafe. Stargazing at night.
Day 3 – Wandering around Tekapo village
A few photos of mine:
On the first day of my trip, I woke up at 4am as my flight departs at 7.30am. I reached bus stop early and waiting for the bus to airport. Suddenly, a car stopped by and the driver offered to take me to the airport, so I got a free ride! She is a mom with two teenage girls sitting at the back. Most of the kiwis are very kind and helpful. I know this is going to be a lovely trip. 🙂
I reached Lake Tekapo in the afternoon and it was raining. Luckily it stopped after I checked in the hostel.
I stayed in a 7 beds mixed dorm at YHA hostel. This accommodation is highly recommended. The location and view is excellent. It is only 2 minutes walking distance from the car park (bus stop) and it is very close to the village. The only thing is that you need to book early because it is too popular.
All of a sudden I miss my life of being a backpacker in Blenheim. Someone told me that when you get older you want to travel in a more comfortable style and so less likely to be a backpacker. Well, my theory is that it is best to travel now (as you are definitely younger than tomorrow) so that you will enjoy the trip in a lower cost. 🙂
Lake Tekapo is still the same – extremely peaceful and beautiful. The blue lake is calm. Lupin flowers blossom in early December and they are so lovely.
I sat on the bench looking at the lupin flower and blue lake. My mind was empty. I think less nowadays because my happiness is fulfilled. I didn’t want to do too much things. Just taking photos and jot down the memories 🙂
This bench is not sincere… Who can sit on this?? >.<
I had a delicious dinner at Kohan Restaurant. If you want to come here, you should book early (and book the window seat!). I walked in to the restaurant and lucky to have a space, but I need to finish my meal in 45 minutes, and also I did not have any time for the dessert :’(
The weather was good on the second day. I woke up early and had a relaxing walk in the morning. And of course, took some (a lot of) photos 😛
I visited Church of the Good Shepherd which I looked forward to.
What surprises me is that there are too many tourists here! I come on weekday (Thursday & Friday) and there are full of people. Don’t they need to work?? (well, I am not counted). It has fewer people when I first visited Tekapo 3 years ago, perhaps it is getting popular in which I don’t know it is a good or bad thing. I find it less romantic now because of the crowd.
Nonetheless, it is still a beautiful place in Lake Tekapo and worth visiting.
This dog status is famous in Lake Tekapo:
On my way back, I saw a beautiful accommodation with a lot of flowers. Next time I want to stay here.
I walked to Mt John. I changed my clothing because I need to hike and also it was getting warmer (about 20 degree). I sweat a lot.
There are 2 tracks to Mt John, one is a long track that takes 3 hours for one way and another one is a short track that takes only 45 minutes. The long track is flat and have more scenery (I did it 3 years ago), but for this time I chose the short track for both ways as I was too lazy. It was very hot in the summer and had no shelter in some areas especially in the long track (excuse?).
I used to think it is an easy track (the short one) but not anymore. I was exhausted. I think I should do more exercise >.< Finally I reached! Astro Café is lovely and the view is amazing as usual.
The downside of travelling alone is that no one takes photos for me, so my best friend is the selfie stick. I think selfie stick is a very important invention because it helps most of the solo travellers. Still, I am always a bit shy to take selfie. Some people even took the photo of me using selfie stick which makes me more shy >.<
I also walked to the summit which was only about 10 minutes walking distance from Astro Café. The scenery was about the same at Astro Café but it had less people. I sat down and thinking nothing. The view was stunning.
Met a lost sheep on the way back. I was a bit hungry…
Discovered a beautiful place with a lot of lupine flowers when I was on the way back to hostel. It was near the Lakefront Backpackers hostel. It was a quiet place.
Had dinner at Thai restaurant. When I first saw this restaurant, I was thinking is this a Thai Restaurant or Korean Restaurant?? After I finished the meal, I still did not know if this was a Thai or Korean restaurant… Anyway the food was normal and the view was a bit far away – not quite recommended.
Stargazing at Church of the Good Shepherd was breathtaking. I couldn’t express how beautiful it was. Now I understand why Lake Tekapo has been ranked one of the best spots in the world for stargazing. I was touched to see such beautiful view. I had not seen such beautiful night scenery before. The star was bright and countless. How wish I hope someone special was here with me. Why is there such amazing place in the world?
I don’t want the promise. I just want you to be with me.
I did not take any photo because my camera and phone didn’t allow me to do so. Here is a photo of the magnet to substitute:
The only disappointment was the tourists. There were too many people and they were desperate to take a perfect photo. A couple was taking wedding photo and they walked nearby the church, then a person scold them because they blocked the view. He spoke in Chinese and the couple are Chinese, so they can understand. Well, I agree that taking photos is important, but not to that extent.
Third day was a cloudy and windy day. The lake was not so blue. I was lucky because I came at the most beautiful time.
I had a big breakfast at Reflection café. The food was normal but the view was good.
This is the end of my 3 days in Lake Tekapo (3 Dec to 5 Dec 2015). I wish to go with someone special next time because it is a romantic place. If you are coming to Lake Tekapo, I recommend planning for an extra night stay because we don’t know how the weather looks like. Lake Tekapo definitely look much wonderful in a sunny day.
I am sure that there are more beautiful places in New Zealand. I want to explore a place that is less well-known!! 🙂 Let me know if you know any.
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