Day 14 (10 April)
Lake Tekapo is a bright turquoise color from the glacial silt that feeds into it. There is a small village at the southern end of the lake that is home to The Church of the Good Shepherd. The church is an old stone chapel that sits right on the edge of the water and is probably one of the most photographed places in New Zealand. The bright color of the waters and the surrounding Southern Alps ranges make for an awesome backdrop.
There was a wedding being held there while we visited, so we didn’t go in. If you’re looking for a venue for your destination wedding, you could do worse than The Church of the Good Shepherd.
As you might expect at an iconic locale that is easily accessible by tour bus, we were accompanied by many Asian folk with fancy cameras. If there is one thing that we have learned in our travels with children, it’s that Asian folks love to photograph curly-haired blonde kids. I’m pretty sure Cohen will feature prominently in countless Japanese photo albums.
I left Liz to do some souvenir shopping and took the boys up to Mt. John observatory. It has one of the darkest night skies and best star views of anywhere in the Southern hemisphere. We were there during the day, and because of the clarity of the air, there are even stars you can see during the daytime.
After cooking a little lunch in Big Jucy and eating next to the lake, we drove on toward Christchurch.
We stayed just outside Christchurch with the Gage family. They lived in Columbia, Missouri at the same time we did; back in med-school days. We actually attended the same church and have several mutual friends. We never met in the States, but due to the wonders of Facebook, we’ve made contact since we arrived in NZ, and they were very kind to invite us to park our home-on-wheels at their house for the night. They have three sons and one daughter, all high school and college age, and all of whom were incredibly kind to indulge our boys in hours of play. I think Elias and Cohen were glad to have someone other than Liz and I with whom to interact.
They prepared an amazing meal for us. Liz got fresh inspiration for educating our boys from Linda, who, along with her husband, has home educated all of their children.
From here we will drive tomorrow to Christchurch, drop off Big Jucy, and continue north to catch the ferry to Wellington. We'll stay one night in Wellington and then drive on home to Gisborne.
Lake Tekapo is a bright turquoise color from the glacial silt that feeds into it. There is a small village at the southern end of the lake that is home to The Church of the Good Shepherd. The church is an old stone chapel that sits right on the edge of the water and is probably one of the most photographed places in New Zealand. The bright color of the waters and the surrounding Southern Alps ranges make for an awesome backdrop.
There was a wedding being held there while we visited, so we didn’t go in. If you’re looking for a venue for your destination wedding, you could do worse than The Church of the Good Shepherd.
As you might expect at an iconic locale that is easily accessible by tour bus, we were accompanied by many Asian folk with fancy cameras. If there is one thing that we have learned in our travels with children, it’s that Asian folks love to photograph curly-haired blonde kids. I’m pretty sure Cohen will feature prominently in countless Japanese photo albums.
I left Liz to do some souvenir shopping and took the boys up to Mt. John observatory. It has one of the darkest night skies and best star views of anywhere in the Southern hemisphere. We were there during the day, and because of the clarity of the air, there are even stars you can see during the daytime.
After cooking a little lunch in Big Jucy and eating next to the lake, we drove on toward Christchurch.
We stayed just outside Christchurch with the Gage family. They lived in Columbia, Missouri at the same time we did; back in med-school days. We actually attended the same church and have several mutual friends. We never met in the States, but due to the wonders of Facebook, we’ve made contact since we arrived in NZ, and they were very kind to invite us to park our home-on-wheels at their house for the night. They have three sons and one daughter, all high school and college age, and all of whom were incredibly kind to indulge our boys in hours of play. I think Elias and Cohen were glad to have someone other than Liz and I with whom to interact.
They prepared an amazing meal for us. Liz got fresh inspiration for educating our boys from Linda, who, along with her husband, has home educated all of their children.
From here we will drive tomorrow to Christchurch, drop off Big Jucy, and continue north to catch the ferry to Wellington. We'll stay one night in Wellington and then drive on home to Gisborne.