About Lake Tekapo
Lake Tekapo was formed by glacial activity thousands of years ago, leaving behind its distinctive turquoise colour from finely ground rock suspended in the water. The area has long been part of Māori travel routes through the South Island, later becoming a high-country farming region.
Today it’s one of New Zealand’s most photogenic spots, known for its vivid blue lake, alpine backdrop and famous lakeside church. It’s also part of a Dark Sky Reserve, making it as spectacular by night as it is by day. Calm, scenic, and quietly breathtaking — a place that feels almost unreal. 🌌
Kia Ora Ōtautahi Christchurch
Our brief flight over to Christchurch on the South Island was uneventful, and coming into land also afforded some magnificent views. As we left Brisbane we intimated that we wondered what business class would be like on the short hop – now we know! On a Qantas 737 the first 4 rows are business class with middle seat removed and slightly wider seats as a result. Oh, and you get proper plates/cutlery and some bubbles. Unfortunately they had overbooked, and they asked one of us to go and sit next to the pilot. Whoever it was though would have to assist him and they asked if either of us had any experience with flaps, so Steve immediately suggested Nikki would be best placed for that.
On arrival, we had to go down the something to declare channel as we had been to a farm (the croc farm) within the last month, and had to ‘declare’ our shoes 😜 After a through inspection we were allowed to proceed which finally bought to an end Nikki’s fantasy that we (she) may appear on ‘Nothing to Declare’ the Australian or New Zealand version.
The Lake and Peppers resort
Our drive from Christchurch to Lake Tekapo was a proper introduction to this beautiful Island, which started off looking a bit like Wales, sheep included, and ended up looking like the Highlands of Scotland, Highland Coo’s included, which can be found in various spots. We arrived just as the sun was setting, and it was a harsh wake up call to the weather to expect. When we left Brisbane it was 34 degrees, on arrival in Lake Tekapo, it was a chilly 9 degrees. As Nikki exited the car, there was a sharp intake of breadth as she immediately regretted the shorts!
The apartment we had booked was beautiful, almost Scandinavian in design, bedrooms downstairs, lounge upstairs to provide the required lake view, and after a very quick bag drop we headed to dinner where we feasted on a rack of ribs which were absolutely delicious.
The following morning, we set out to explore the lake, which is simply breathtaking, particularly the turquoise clear water. Walking around the track by the lake also bought us to the Church of the Good Shepherd. It was a tiny church, with a huge view. Nikki took a few moments for reflection, whilst Steve got chatting to the guy just inside the door, who turned out to be from Kent. Nikki also chatted to him for quite a while as it turned out they were both Church Organists, and she was even invited back the next evening to play, unfortunately our schedule didn’t allow that.
We spend the day meandering around, a few beers here and there, Nikki bought a beanie hat for that evening as we were booked on a star gazing tour, and we also booked a table for later at Fishtail, which was an Indian & Nepalese restaurant. You can all guess what Steve chose from the menu.
The stargazing was the highlight of our trip to Lake Tekapo.
Hamish says ...
Steve thinks that Lake Tekapo is the most beautiful place he has ever been to in the world, and it takes very little to imagine it covered in snow as well in the winter time….it was WOW, just WOW. Steve felt another couple of nights there would have been great as it felt like we only scratched the surface. This time, Nikki agreed.
What's next
Up and out on Sunday to start a long-ish drive to Queenstown where we have 3 nights booked. A relaxing drive is planned, with a few stops along the way. Queenstown is one of our friends daughters (Emily) favourite places on the South Island so we are very much looking forward to that.
By the way, just a note to remember you are probably catching these posts a few days after we have left a place. If you follow us on Facebook you are likely to see us much further down the road!