Hoping to get a relatively early start on the road we were waylaid briefly as Marvin decided he like Queenstown so much he didn't want to leave. After an hour or so we finally got Marv up and running and were on our way. Once on the move we headed back past the Kawarua Bungee Bridge and through the town of Cromwell, apparently the town furthest from a coast in New Zealand. We continued on our way through the Central Otago wine valley and vineyards to the top and over the otherside of the Lind Pass.
That afternoon we arrived at Lake Pukaki. A huge brilliantly turquoise glacier-fed lake. This route brough us up the east side of the Southern Alps and we were now the otherside of Mt Cook from when we had been at the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers. Evidently in the time we had been in the southern part of the island the freeze had started as 3,000m up on Mt Cook we could see a lot more snow than the week before.
We found a free campsite on the edge of the lake set amongst a pine forest which offered some fantastic views of the now heavily snow capped Mt Cook. New Zealand prohibited 'Freedom Camping' in September 2011 due to waste products and inconsiderations of certain campers. Freedom Camping is stopping overnight in a non campsite location if you are not self-contained, ie. no toilet on board. We always stay in designated campsites, although these free ones often have just a long drop toilet and not much else! These campsites or 'reserves' are often on the edge of a lake/river/beach, so often offer some great views. Due to the banning of the Freedom Camping, district councils are putting more free campsites in place, but you need to look for them or ask at the local visitors centre or you might never find them.
The clocks have just rolled back an hour for Autumn so we woken nice and early by the early bright sunshine. Daylight hours are around 7am-7pm now, with it being pitch black by 7.15pm. This means its a tad easier getting up in the morning (although still cold) but means we ideally need to be located by 6.30pm to make sure we're not driving around aimlessly in the dark of an evening. So woken by a new Autumn sun that morning we dragged ourselves away from the lake and the morning views of Mt Cook.... the evening views were better anyway. We carried on up the road till we arrived at our next brief stop, Lake Tekapo. A lake of a similiar vain to the previous with a shimmering turquoise colour. What puts this lake on the map is its small chapel, 'The Church of the Good Shepherd'. The chapel is on the southern shore of the lake and the window behind the altar opens out to stunning views of the lake and scenery behind. At 700m above sea level the area around Lake Tekapo is billed as having the clearest air in the Southern Hemisphere. It looks pretty clear during the day but a night you can really appreciate it as the sky is covered with stars and the milky way can be seen as clear anything.
From Lake Tekapo we made our way through the very small town of Fairlie, before arriving fairly quickly to Geraldine. The locals here must have thought we were on some mad drugs or something as we ran around laughing and taking pictures of everything that said 'Geraldine'. This ultimately was a lot; the butchers, bakers, library, cinema, school even police station! After the initial excitment had died down we had a look around and discovered to our (low budget) benefit that there were plenty of produce stores open for free tasters etc. We headed first for Barkers for a whole host of jams, chutneys, pickles and juices before taking a stroll down the road to Geraldine cheese shop for a savoury treat. Last on the list was a small store called Prenzel of Geraldine where we spent half hour talking to the shop owner about our travels around New Zealand and she told us all about her family who had most moved to Oz. Prenzels had a great selection of sauces as well liquors (a bit early for), but we ended up buying just some cheese and walnut paste, but only after Adam had finished off nearly a whole jar of assorted pickles and chutneys.
We found another free campsite just outside of Geraldine on the edge of the small village of Arundel to spend the night. The following morning was time to tackle the Route 72, the South Islands 'Inland Scenic Route' up to Christchurch.
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