Tekapo, Pukaki, and Oamaru

January 16

Sam:

This morning we packed up quickly and got on the road to Lake Tekapo, a lake of glacier water that is turquoise. We put our feet in, and it wasn’t as cold as we thought it would be.

We parked and then walked across a big suspension bridge to get to the “Church of the Good Shepherd.” The church was built in 1935 and still has a service once a month. The church itself is small, cozy, and beautiful.

We did some browsing in gift shops (the little town reminded us of a tiny Banff) and then went to Lake Pukaki, another glacier lake that we were staying at.

When we arrived and found a good camping spot up on a hill overlooking the water, we swam for a while in the lake and then played on the rocks. The water was pretty cold. We were glad we had our water shoes because it was a very rocky beach.

January 17

Charlotte:

I was excited to wake up this morning because it is my birthday! This morning I video-chatted my cousins after my Mom surprised me with “vancakes” (pancakes made in our campervan). Also my parents surprised me with a gift of kiwi earrings and necklace, and my grandma had sent a special silver world necklace, too. Then we went on the road!

On the way to our next campsite, we went to a salmon farm where we fed the salmon. They were really big and jumped up to the top of the water to catch the food. Dad got salmon sushi.

After that stop, we continued on to Oamaru.

Sam:

For lunch we ate at a McDonald’s, and then went to The Warehouse (a mix between a Walmart and a Giant Tiger) to buy sunglasses but we found a bin of DVDs on sale so we bought 3 Harry Potter movies also.

Charlotte:

Then we got to the camping park. It was the first one we paid for, but it was right by the coast and has baby penguins nesting under the kitchen deck. Right beside the campsite, the was a huge playground. Sam and I loved the hamster wheel. It was so fun to run in it! Dad and Mom checked out a brewery next to the park while we played.

We went back to the camper for dinner (Mom made chicken fingers and Kraft dinner that we brought from home for my birthday) and watched the 6th Harry Potter movie while we ate. I was so happy! We also had a chocolate cake!

Then we went outside twice to see the penguins again. They were so cute. We saw one run across the road and even poop when it got scared. Later we saw one mommy feed two babies. It was kind of weird because it barfed into the baby’s mouth.