In this article, we will share with you our visit to Lake Tekapo, New Zealand, in the form of a story, with a touch of literary style writing. A place where everyone talks about, a famous tourist spot through our eyes.
This may come as a cliché to many of you; however, we are writing about it anyway. Why? You may ask. Well, it is simply because it is worth the moment.
If you are planning a trip to New Zealand, or even if you are not, you may have seen some photographs of this place, the beautiful lake, and the church that stood on its edge. Lake Tekapo is one of those places people stop by when they visit the South Island of New Zealand, and we will take you through our journey there with some information, comparison, and recommended spots.
The Story
We were here once in autumn a few years ago; I still remember trying to time the moment I hit the shutter of my camera to capture the church with as few people in the frame as possible. I still remember staying at one of the hotels situated along the lake, waking up to a scenery that made me think it was worth coming here. I could not very vividly remember what it looked like or what it was that captured my heart when we were here. Was it really the view, or was it the serenity we felt in the air? Is it the peace of you and me being here together that holds a special place in my memory? I could not quite grasp the reason.
The Planning and A Race Before The Storm
“Should we stop by there again?” she asked me when we were planning our route towards Queenstown. “I think so, it was nice the last time we were there, right?” I answered and returned a question. “Yeah, I love that place,” she replied.
Honestly, I was a little sceptical, her saying she loves a place had become something I heard at least a few dozen times, so I cannot really tell how good it is compared to other places we have been to.
We pulled up at our accommodation after a three-hour drive from Fable Terrace Downs, the resort we stayed at the night before near Mount Hutt. The view there was quite a spectacle. I parked our car in the designated parking spot in a neighborhood where we were staying the night. The sun was shining brightly that afternoon, but a big cloud was rolling in, one big enough to cause us to pause a little to marvel at the sight. “Let’s hurry up and check in,” I told her.
We hurriedly unload our luggage from the car, place it in our room, and take a short toilet break before driving out to the lake. Judging from the distance of the cloud, we should have quite a bit of time before it reaches us, and we shall maximize it before that towering wall of cloud showers upon us.
An Unexpected Beauty
We pulled up at the most popular spot, immediately taken aback by the number of people and cars in the parking area. “Now that’s peak high season,” I remarked. The last time we were here, around April to May, half the parking spot was empty, and it looked less like the most popular spot around the area.
We found a spot to park and started to walk towards the lake. I did not expect much from the view I had already seen once, “let’s just go and take a deep breath beside the lake, take it all in for a few minutes, and head out for some food,” I thought to myself. Little did I realise that what was going to greet me was a completely different scenery from what I had remembered.
As soon as the body of water came into view, our legs halted for a moment, and a bright shade of blue shone, glittering in the sunlight. The water was blue enough for us to start questioning if it was real. For a moment, we forgot about all the people that was there, and how crowded it was at the parking space. The light blue color brightens our mood, submerging us in a world that reality cannot seem to reach. It was instantly worth stopping by.
The cloud that had warned us of the coming storm earlier formed a backdrop for the church, covering half the mountains surrounding the lake, giving the view in front of us a dramatic breath.
The Church and Lupine Flowers
Although the people gathering around the church did spoil the scenery a little, it was not much of a disappointment, as the real view lies in that blue water, the mountains that surrounded it, and the cloud that was rolling in.
The lupine flower gave life to the ground around us, a flower that will only bloom from November to around mid-January each year. The view this year was not like what we remembered from a couple of years ago in autumn, although the serenity and the air of calmness, peace, and detachment we felt were not there, a brighter uplifting mood filled the air with life. “Now this feels more like summer,” I thought.
Perhaps getting baffled with the same scenery twice can be the mark of quality for this view in front of me. I took some photos of her standing beside the lake, and we took a selfie with a disposable film camera together. The rest of the time we spent walking around and talking, admiring what we saw, complaining about the number of people there, even though we are also a part of the crowd, laughing and enjoying the moment, and capturing it with our cameras to remember it by when this dream comes to an end and we go back to our reality.
Our Thought on Lake Tekapo and Recommendations
A few years ago, we drove around the lake for a different view. The lake is large, and its beauty stretches wherever it goes; there is no need to see it from the most popular spot, there are other places you can look at it from, which is probably what we would recommend to someone that desire to visit Lake Tekapo.
As the snow forms atop the mountains, covering its peak in pure white, the clouds cover most of the sky, leaving some light to escape through, the water undisturbed by the wind, turning it into a mirror, it is then that we truly find peace in the moment.
This year we also went to University of Canterbury Mt John Observatory for a view overlooking Lake Tekapo.
For another way to see the country check out our Helicopter Tour in the South Island.
