Lake Tekapo / NZ

Time is flying and I can't believe it is already four months ago since I finaly went on vacation to New Zealand. Though it still has been summer in NZ in February. 

My Jucy van with a kitchen in the rear

After a one night stop at a great AirBnb in Auckland I took the flight to Christ-
church and picked up my comfi sleeping van at Jucy rentals.
Heading off, I followed the tour friends of mine did a few years ago. My big big thanks here to Manu & Andy for all your tips!!

If you are wondering if you need a map to drive around, I just used a general overviwe  I ripped out of a caravan park guide and it was all I needed. Works perfectly, as there are not too many streets anyhow ;-)

Lake Tekapo from the top at the Observatory

From Christchurch I started in the late afteernoon heading to the scenic route 46 (via Mount Somers) to Geraldine and the 79 and 8 further to Lake Tekapo. Arriving on the South Island it had started to rain and there wasn't much to see during my drive, though without a stop I just arrived shortly before 8pm. This was pretty good timing as the reception of the caravan park closes at 8pm.

Tip: I bought myself a prepaid sim card with a month of data volume and downloaded the app "Official Camping NZ - Free" finding the right campsite for your needs, just perfect. 

Even that it still has been summer, up here and in the middle of the island it has been pretty cool. Nevertheless I crawled up in my huge warm blanket, hanging my head out of the sliding door looking at the sky as this area is famous for it's most amazing stars in the sky. I was lucky the clouds cleared and it just looked great.

Tip: Bring warm clothes, it really can be freezing and I did this a lot during this night and others until I bought Merino long sleeves (which by the way are as expensive as in Germany). Coming from warm Singapore and expecting summerly 23 degrees, I wasn't expecting this cold condition.

After a good sleep I awoke to a still cool, but sunny morning. You can do a hike up the mountain to the observatory, what I did and you have an amazing 360 degree view on the Lake and snowy mountains. 

You can also go to a small church at the Lake which is said to look very beautiful. I haven't done it.

View from the Observatory to the snowy mountains

Hello moon :-)

In the early afternoon I left to Mount Cook.