Big Trip

We were ferried to the airport again this morning to pick up our camper van. It turned out to be brand new, just to make it really easy to tell if we break something. Hit the road at about 10.45, heading for Mount Cook. The scenery on the inland scenic route was stunning. Flat and open, but with high fells in the distance. very lush and green too. Sort of a cross between Cambridgeshire and the Lake District or Scotland, only with vastly fewer people. At one point we didn't see another vehicle for almost ten minutes. Driving over three and a half tons of van is entertaining when the wind's whipping across the plains. Obviously the locals have noticed the wind too, because there were a number of very tall conifer hedges clipped very thin & square, presumably for shelter. All the towns & villages we passed through seemed beautifully kept - even the odd house out on its own just before a village would be ship shape.
We passed over some pretty turquoise water at times, but seemed never to manage to stop by any. After a while, we noticed lupins appearing in great drifts by the roadside. Apparently they're a bit of a pain, ousting indigenous flora. At Tekapo, we stopped at the Church of the Good Shepherd by the lake. Great views over the turquoise water (again) to the fairly serious mountains beyond. Then we came upon lake Pukaki, a vast expanse of opaque turquoise water. It looks unreal, because you can't see anything below the surface of the water. It's because it's full of finely ground rock flour, created by the glacier whose meltwater feeds it. Found a great camp site at the end of the lake with good views up the valley to the mountains. Darling lady in the coffee shop ground us some coffee for the morning, bless her.