We took a bus from the hotel to the beginning of a 1-1/2 km trail and were told that if we didn’t think we could walk it, to let them know before we started. We all started walking and it wasn’t that difficult. However, the leader showed up and looked at everyone of us to see if we were struggling. He would have sent us back!
We went out on the boats down on the water. There were 8 in a boat including the captain.
To visualize how big these mountains were, there is a shot of a helicopter with a rope and a bag of gravel that weighs a TON! They were adding it to the trail we walked on.
Our captain was a cute guy from Mexico who’s been doing this for ten years. He knows everything there is to know about glaciers and icebergs.
Even he was excited the the inversion (fog) left and later on our tour it retuned and we had to motor through it.
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Wow! So much information. The icebergs usually break off the glacier and are clear, but as the sun shines and the water (warmer than the ice) start to melt the icebergs, the rocks inside start showing and it appears as dirty.
An iceberg is always in a balancing act due to physics. Once the water melts more of the berg in the water, it becomes top heavy and flips in the water. They are always in a state of flux.
No matter how cold the air is, the sun produces so much heat, the top begins to melt also. Look at what looks like a rain shower under the berg!!
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The dark areas are rocks embedded in the berg that was picked up all the way down the mountain as the glacier undulated downward.
This is a glacier lake at 38 Degrees Farenheit. Because there are so many minerals in the water, alga cannot grow since the sun doesn’t penetrate the water. Therefore, there is no food for fish to eat. So nothing living is in the water.
Air bubbles in the ice.
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This piece of ice broke off from the glacier which had a canal running through it where the water ran right through the glacier like a river. Cool!
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We were not supposed to get close to an iceberg because it could extend under the water and under our boat. Once it becomes top heavy, it would flip — including us. But our captain kept checking that there wasn’t anything under us and we were able to get close enough for Liz to touch it.
As the captain was taking this photo, a big black piece of iceberg broke off into the lake. Amazing!!
Behind us was the glacier, which will be gone in 30 years.
This glacier is not the beautiful blue, it’s dirty gray due to all the rocks in it.
I just didn’t want to leave! It was outstanding!!
On our drive back to christchurch, the water continued to get bluer and bluer.
Beautiful look-out.
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Tekapo Tourism has installed a webcam from this observation tower overlooking Lake Tekapo at Mount John. Click on this: https://tekapotourism.nz/videocam.html. I discovered this link after I got home. You can watch what is happening in real time in New Zealand — AND THEY ARE A DAY AHEAD OF US!! — It’s like time-traveling!! And when you see car drive by, notice they are driving on the left side of the road!!
This 1.8m telescope has recently been installed at Mt John and is an international partnership between astronomers at the universities of Canterbury, Auckland and Victoria in New Zealand, and Nagoya University in Japan.
Lake Tekapo has one of the most spectacular night skies in the world. Visitors from all over New Zealand and the world are amazed by the clarity and sheer numbers of stars visible to the naked eye during Lake Tekapo’s night.
Lake Tekapo’s night sky has interested more than just the visitors. Canterbury University operates a astronomical observatory on top of Mt John, overlooking Lake Tekapo. The clear skies and low levels of local light pollution have helped astronomers put Mt John observatory on the international map with observations and discoveries of the southern sky.
Just prior to this page going on-line, Mt John had played an major role in part of an international programme to detect and monitor collapsing stars.
Over a month Mt John observatory detected and announced to the astronomical community, two exploding stars approximately 11.5 billion light years away.
In other words, these massive stars exploded long before our planet even existed. Because the stars were so far away, the light and radiation emitted by the explosion has only just reached us now, 11.5 billion years later.
We had some fun taking pictures here.
I’ve always said “If you don’t have a picture; it never happened.” Which is what happened at Mt. Cook. I was FED UP with doing things I might not want to (due to my near death scare on the mountain bike), so I decided to avoid the cold bus ride at midnight to go see the Southern Cross and other stars. I had seen the Southern Cross while on a cold night in Australia and was underwhelmed. (I am underwhelmed with people point out dots of light at home also, and telling me they are bears, or men with dogs, or dippers.)
So I didn’t go with the other four women. They did, however, share their photos with me.
Constance was THRILLED when I gave her her own kazoo!!
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We stopped at this city for meat pies. I had salmon and bacon. It was in a puff pastry and delicious with LOTS of salmon. Delicious salmon. Halfway through I wondered where the bacon was when I realized their bacon is light pink, the color of salmon, and more like ham. So THAT’S what was so delicious — bacon!
The statue of a man and his dog depicted the man for whom the region was named.
In March 1855, shepherds searching for 1000 missing sheep in the upper reaches of the Waitaki Valley apprehended suspected rustler James Mackenzie, one of New Zealand’s first and most enduring folk heroes.
Caught red-handed, Mackenzie denied the theft, claiming he had been hired to drive the sheep to Otago.
(Actually he needed to own sheep before being able to buy New Zealand land, so he just had his trusty dog, Friday, rustle some up.)
After escaping from his captors, he walked 160 km to Lyttelton, where he was recaptured on 15 March. The Supreme Court found Mackenzie guilty, sentencing him to five years’ hard labour.
Mackenzie escaped from his road gang twice, remaining at large for a few days each time. In September 1855 a new magistrate reinvestigated his case and found flaws in the police inquiry and trial. Pardoned in January 1856, Mackenzie probably returned to Australia, but details of his later life are scarce.
The exploits of Mackenzie and his loyal dog, Friday, left an indelible mark on the South Island high country. Canny pastoralists quickly realized the significance of the pass where he was found with the stolen sheep, and the open country beyond. This region was subsequently dubbed the Mackenzie Country.
Back to our old stomping grounds of Christchurch and had our last taste of Hokey Pokey ice cream at the Rollicking Gelato. THIS TIME, it was hokey, tokey, pokey! M-m-m!!
We had a final dinner with Constance and accepted some very cute and thoughtful gifts and a marked up map of our travels to remind us of the great country (island?) of New Zealand.
We had FOUR flights to get home on January 21st. It was the longest day of my life (actually 2-1/2 days).
We were without Constance and its always a little jarring at the end of a trip that we are no longer being cared for. We flew Christchurch to Auckland on a domestic plane, then Auckland to Los Angeles where we heard about the snow in the southeast. Liz and I left LAX four hours before the others. When we arrived in Atlanta, we were way-laid by de-icing and it was snowing. We were one of the last planes to leave that night. I haven’t seen snow like that in years.
Jane booked a hotel in Atlanta; but they sold it before she arrived and had to sleep in the airport. She thought she was going home the next morning, but it turned out it was the morning AFTER THAT. Apparently Myrtle Beach is not equipped with snow removal machines. she at least spent the night in a hotel in Atlanta. Janice and Lesa headed to Raleigh and was greeted to a white yard.
Eventually, everyone got home safely.
I took some natural NO JET LAG pills on the trip home and was able to sleep through the nights once I got home. But jet lag still intervened in my life by bouts of being so tired I fell asleep at my pedicure appointment and while I was getting a manicure. It was gone after about a week.
I was not able to play pickle ball because my injured knee needed to heal. But it’s on the mend now.
I bought this on day one and used it every morning in my hotel room.
I bought a $2 workout top at a thrift store along the way, an $8 pashmina, some hand painted note cards and some daily words to live by — Lighten The Fuck Up.
I hate for that phrase to be my last, so I will close by giving the trip an “11” rating out of “10”.
…..sometimes you have to face death for a little while in order to have a good time the rest o the time!
Happy Travels!
If you’d like to leave a comment, I am the only one who will see it.
Love, Linda Jeanne