The stretch of road to Lake Tekapo was gorgeous, and seeing the lake turn up when we came out of a corner, I mean, it has the most unreal crystal blue colour, it’s mesmerizing.

We had lunch in the small town by the lake, and parked the car by Tekapo Springs, before packing a backpack for a 3 hour walk – the one called Mt John via lakeshore – our last walk of that kind in New Zealand. The path followed the lake for a while, then it turned back up over the mountain where the observatory and its adjacent café was found. It was a steep walk up, but the entire walk had an amazing view of the lake with surroundings, and we could even see all the way to Mount Cook.

Before we took the equally steep path down the other side, we rewarded ourselves with a milkshake/latte in the Astro Café. Apparently, Lonely Planet says it’s probably the best location for a café on the planet – with a view like this, I tend to agree.

The camp site was right next to Tekapo Springs, so after the walk we checked in, hung out and rested our feet. There were rabbits and ducks (AND ducklings) running around the camp site which added to the entertainment for everyone while Mads and I had a cold beer.

In the evening we walked to the famous church by the lake – the Church of the Good Shepherd. After seeing pictures of it, I expected it to be a much more secluded place, but it was right there on the lake side next to the village. Still a pretty place, though.

The next morning we gave in to the girls’ wishes for swimming pools – they have been begging to go to every swimming pool we have seen throughout New Zealand, so we decided a good way to spend the morning before a three hour drive would be to go next door to Tekapo Springs. They had a nice choice of hot pools, cold pools, water slides etc. and though we did it mostly for the girls, Mads and I quite enjoyed a few hours there as well.

In the afternoon we drove all the way to Christchurch. We chose the Inland Scenic Route there as long as we could, and though it was a pretty stretch of road, it was very obvious that we had left the beautiful rugged mountains behind.

We had found a camp site close to the Wendekreisen office where we were returning Børge BumleBus the following morning. We had dinner in a restaurant, and returned to the camp site to start packing. Booohooooo….