Flying horses

This weekend Joanne and I had another weekend away. It was just a coincidence that it followed the weekend in Akaroa last weekend for Hannah's wedding. We wouldn't normally be away every weekend.


This week we headed down to Tekapo, which is about 3 hours south-west of Christchurch in what's called Mackenzie country. We stayed at a B&B called Alpine Vista and we can most heartily recommend it. When we do these weekends away it's sometimes nice to stay at B&Bs rather than in a motel or whatever. You get to meet your hosts and the other guests a whole lot more and for us it's a definite plus to get to talk to both locals and other travellers.

We drove down Friday night so that we'd have the full day on Saturday and got up early to make the most of the blue sky and sunshine. Tekapo is well-known for its lake which is a beautiful milky turquoise colour, due to the glacial rivers flowing into it. Iconic tourist attractions include the lakeside statue of a sheepdog as well as the Church of the Good Shepherd. These are next to each other and right at the start of the township so we went there and got these ticked off first.

Pete, the guy who runs the B&B, recommended a little spot down by Lake Alexandrina for a walk, so this was next port of call. It was a lake just alongside the much larger Lake Tekapo but quite a nice spot with a few typical Kiwi baches. It was lovely to stroll by the still lake basking in the morning sunshine. It's times like that that make me wish I carried a fishing rod with me. I hear the lake is full with brown trout.

Next up, as we headed back into town was the observatory at the top of Mount John. The Lake Tekapo area has been designated a UNESCO starlight reserve, the world's first. We didn't have a chance to look around the observatory unfortunately but its location serves as an excellent spot to view the surrounding countryside - the lake, the Mackenzie basin, the high-country sheep stations and the alps. You get an awesome view of the contrasting geographies and topologies that make up that area from up there.

The one thing we'd booked in advance for the weekend, other than the B&B, was horse-trekking. Now, Joanne's ridden before. As a kid she did it quite a lot and even found time in London at a riding school on the Isle of Dogs. Me, on the other hand, I've ridden a donkey on Cleethorpes beach. As such it was with great trepidation that I climbed aboard Rock, my horse for the two-hour trek, and set about trying not to fall off.

As it turned out, Rock was an experience old pro and knew exactly what to do. He stopped when he needed to, started when he needed to, turned left and right when he needed to - all irrespective of what I wanted him to do. He just followed the lead of the horse in front, plodded along, and mostly ignored the reins I was holding. I didn't fall off, which was a bonus. And didn't ache either, despite everyone warning me I would. Maybe that though is because we spent an hour after dismounting soaking in the nearby alpine springs.

At breakfast on Saturday we had spent a while listening to a couple from Portsmouth tell us all about the one hour flying tour up the lake and over Mount Cook and the glaciers. Sunday was even more beautiful a day than Saturday so we just could not resist the call of the air. It wasn't a cheap experience, but it certainly was an amazing experience. Getting the chance to see the landscape, the lakes, the mountains and the glaciers from that angle was mind-blowing, as we weaved in and out of the valleys and circled the peaks. Sadly the photos don't do it justice.

On landing we jumped in the car and sped as fast as (legally!) possible back into town. Joanne had noticed that there was a service on at 11:30 at the Church of the Good Shepherd. We arrived during the first hymn but were allowed in (they shut the church to tourists for the duration of the service). It is such a tiny little place, there were 23 of us in there, including the minister, and we'd have struggled to get more than 10 more. I think there were maybe 5 or 6 locals there and the rest of us were visitors, from as far afield as Germany, Seattle and Malaysia. The whole thing, including the sermon to some extent, served as a great reminder to us, that although this group of us gathered together for a snapshot in time in worldy terms as a disparate collection, we are all in fact united by Jesus and in spiritual terms are unified and family, even though we'd never met before and probably won't do again while we're here on earth.