Our time on the tourist-filled, stunningly-blue shores of Lake Tekapo was cut short due to an error in judgment (or most certainly distance) on my part, but we lucked out on our gamble and made it to Lake Pukaki with plenty of time to take in the waves, the colour, the mountains and the sun – entirely by ourselves.
No, Pukaki doesn’t have an iconic church or a sculptural ode to sheep dogs, but it has similar mountain views, the same vibrantly hued water that makes you wonder how it’s possible for water to be that shade of blue (answer: rock dust refracts light, making the water sky blue – still doesn’t make me stare in disbelief any less), and NO people. We saw three cars all afternoon and evening, while we camped out with Delores on the shore. That may or may not have then caused major concern when it sounded like it was POURING rain through the night and I wondered how exactly old Delores was going to fare when it came time to take the dirt track out of there, but it turns out that she has the nifty little trick of amplifying the sound of sprinkling to make it sound like the world is flooding. So all was good in the world and we were able to continue on our merry way in the morning after waking up to yet more stunning views (before they clouded over and the rain set in).
Grateful for: a roof overhead (instead of a tent), a daring bit of driving to get us to the lake shore, my backpacking sandwich (why I only ever eat it when on the road is a bit of a mystery to me)
