Onwards to Twizel and better weather.

 

The Church of the Good Shepherd, Tekapo

On the way out of Christchurch we called into the supermarket to get some supplies so I could cook at the apartment we are staying in at Twizel.  The sun had appeared and everyone seemed quite cheerful.  As we proceeded south we encountered low cloud which descended lower and lower until we were driving through fog.  At the turnoff to Geraldine the fog lifted and suddenly the snowy mountains were visible. 

I wanted to get some meat to cook a nice meal in Twizel and I noted they had a butcher in Geraldine.  The service was great and the butcher obligingly sliced some bacon and provided a couple of steaks tailored to meet my request.  It reminded me of days gone by except there was no wooden butcher’s block on which the meat was cut as I remember from my childhood. 

Mask compliance in shops and cafés is very optional in South Island, certainly compared to Wellington.  We noticed a café which I think was still operating that had a whole lot of anti-vaccination and other conspiracy theory posters plastered all over it.   (Or perhaps it had closed due to a lack of custom). 

 

We stopped briefly in Fairlie to go to a bakery that had been recommended for great pies but it was closed due to “Covid and “flu”.  The other offerings in town were not so tempting, so we proceeded onto our next stop at Burkes Pass where there was a general store and a very quirky collection of old things.  It was almost like a miniature village.  We also encountered our first tour bus there, transporting a group of New Zealanders even older than ourselves. 

Burkes Pass General Store

By then we were up close and personal with the mountains.  The air was clear and there was not a cloud in the sky.  The horizon was ringed with snowy mountains against the brown of the tussock followed by the deep blue of Lake Tekapo. 

Lake Tekapo

After a coffee and bite to eat in Tekapo we wandered to the Church of the Good Shepherd.  There were a surprising number of people exploring the area.  For the most part the accents I could hear were New Zealanders. 

 

Church of the Good Shepherd

We have a very nice apartment/unit in Twizel which is not too far from what is the town centre, although frankly nothing is far from the centre. 

It was an All Black test against the Argentinians so we decided that it might be nice to join the locals to watch the test at a pub.  When we arrived the one pub was chocker with people.  We decided to relocate for our meal to a little Thai place in the shopping centre where we had a nice enough meal before heading back to the pub. 

It was still very full, but we managed to find a spot by the bar where we could watch the game and then eventually a couple of bar stools came available as several people left as it looked like the All Blacks were going to add to their losing streak. 

It is a long time since I was in a bar so full.  The most surprising thing for me was the amount of beer sloshing around in jugs and there were also quite a few quart bottles of beer which I haven’t seen up north for a very long time.  Perhaps I don’t go to the right places? 

The final result was a loss again to the All Blacks who seem to be only able to put on a decent display every half dozen games.  Nonetheless for us it was a lovely evening.  

 

Bridge across the Tekapo River

Church at Burkes Pass