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6th Jan
We left Christchurch two days ago and headed into the mountains. It feels like we have been on the road and travelling for quite a long time now and we were anxious to get into the National parks and explore the New Zealand we had read so much about. We were not disappointed and the drive to Lake Tekapo, our caampsite for the next two nights was stunning. The mountains just seem to draw you in and I can really understand why NZ was chosen for so many of the locations for Lord of the Rings. Unfortunately our journey was punctuated with another serious car accident (we saw one a few days ago in the North Island). The girl involved was making a lot of noise so the first aider in me knew she was in reasonable condition. We continued on to our destination which was Lake Tekapo and high up in the mountains. The Lake is a pure turqouise colour from sunlight reflecting off the sediment created as Glaciers carve their way through the rocks on their way down the mountain. The Lake is surrounded by mountains and just beautiful. The sun was blazing so we spent the rest of the day at the Lake side. The water temperature is between 8 and 10 degrees so not even Rosie fully submerged herself and she's normally straight in! It's difficiult to describe the sun intensity here. It's nothing like we've experienced before. The burn time can be as low as 8 minutes so we have had to be really careful. My spam has peeled once already since it got burned in Auckland. All the girls have got really fair skin and burn easily so hats and sun block are the order of the day.
7th Jan
Had a great day in and around Lake Tekapo - as you can see from the photo we are still talking! It was lovely not to be in the car and getting to the next place. The children are brilliant when travelling but it does tend to get to them after a few days. Visited the Church of the lonely Shepherd on the Lakeside which was built in the late 1800s as a focal point of prayer for the Shepherds and farmers in the area. There was also a bronze statue of a Collie dog as a tribute to the dogs which have meant humans can survive in this environemnt and prosper with their sheep farming. The children, as you can imagine, were suitably enamoured with him. After lunch and some maths for Rosie and scrap books all round we headed off around the Lake to explore, ending up at Lake Alexander where the Childrn spent a happy hour trying to catch little fish and Meg shouted her excitement at anyone who will listen. Thye children have had so much fun making friends with whoever is around, whatever their nationality. Children do it so much quicker than adults don't they?
Things seem a little strange at the moment - everyone at home is going back to school and now we are really 'on holiday'. As I write this, everyone at SJB is going into assembly for the first day back at school. It does feel very weird not to be there but not weird enough to wish I was actually there! Hope it all goes well for you all.
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