Where to start? Lake Tekapo

I was undecided whether to follow the paths of my travels on each trip or to choose a place until I've covered all I've visited or to do a mix of both.  I've decided on a mix of both because I think it will happen that way with the story telling.  

Some time before my first trip over, I'd seen a photo of this picturesque little stone church on the edge of a stunning turquoise blue lake with lupins flowering all around, snow capped mountains in the background, beautiful pine trees on the other side of the lake and I remember thinking, I bet it's in some national park that you have to hike 3 days to get to!

As it turns out, the little non denominational Church of the Good Shepherd is very easy to get to.  The scenery in real life is just as beautiful as the pictures.

The turquoise blue lake is crystal clear and the stunning blue is a result of it being a glacier fed lake, the colour being created by the glacier flour which is extremely finely ground rock particles from the glacier.

In the spring time, the lupins come out in flour and put on a glorious display of colour in around the church and the rocky outcrop towards the lake.

Some days, people would have taken the time to make little towers out of the rocks, also known as cairns and you seem them down near the lake front.

Inside the little church itself is just 11 pews, with a reed organ and the most spectacular view of the lake and snow capped mountains from the window above the altar. 

It truly is a beautiful place and there are many tourists who stop by to enjoy the peace and tranquility of this scenic place.

The township of Lake Tekapo has a population of around 370 residents and is a great place to base for a couple of days if you're wanting to explore the area further or do some skiing.

Mt Cook is nearby for the skiers and explorers and the world famous Mt John Observatory is well worth a visit.  The views during the daytime are spectacular and the night time star gazing observatory tours are a must do!

I attended the Mt John Twilight Tour where due to it being a little cloudy that night, I had the opportunity to see New Zealand's largest research telescope and meet the astronomers working behind the scenes. 

The telescope is worth a cool $7 million and the mirror alone (which you cant see from the angle in the pic below) is worth $2 mil. The telescope costs around $12 000 a day to run and the night I was there in 2014, there were 4 astronomers reading the data provided to them by this telescope. An amazing place!

When the clouds cleared, we (myself and two other stargazers) had the opportunity to look through some other smaller telescopes as the stars and the sky were explained in a little more detail.

It was incredibly cold as there were strong winds coming from the snow on Mt Cook, however, they provide you with pre-loved jackets from previous Antarctic expeditions.

There is something about this whole area that appeals to me so it's a place I've found myself returning to a few times and will no doubt return again.