So as evenings are getting longer, but also colder, I spend yesterday evening in the campsite’s living room, reading my book. When I went to my tent to go to sleep, I used the flashlight of my phone to find it. And once I found it, I also found this little hump that hadn’t been there before. On closer inspection it turned out to be a little hedgehog :-) After seeing so many dead ones on the road, it was really nice to see a living one for a change. I didn’t bother him too much withe the flashlight and crawled into my tent instead, where I could here it rummaging around, until it disappeared. Like any other land mammal, hedgehogs are not native to NZ and conservationists regard them as pests. So actually I should have caught it and hand it over to the authorities.... As should we do with all humans, which are also non native land mammals in NZ.... Gotta preserve and protect!
So my aim over the last few days for today was to reach lake Pukaki and then have a day off the bike there. However it turned out there is not too much around at lake Pukaki, so I settled on lake Tekapo instead, which was only 47k away from Fairlie. So short day today with some 650 meters of uphill. Initially I was afraid that such a short day would make it very hard for me to reach Queenstown within three says after the restday, but it turned out that Queenstown is only some 300k away from here. I’m really getting there!
So the ride was quite uneventful. Gradually uphill, with a short steeper climb towards the end... once I was passed the top of Burkes Pass, I had a bit of downhill and than hit a wall of Southern Alps, with bits of snow on top :-) And after that it was a bit further down towards the lake, of which the color is just mesmerizing at first sight!
Not too sure what I’m going to do here all day tomorrow though. This lake is a bit of a tourist magnet, with big numbers of campervans swarming the streets and parking lots. There’s a hill I can climb. So maybe I’ll just be lazy for the rest of the day, just like this afternoon. As I finished my book yesterday I bought a new book this afternoon (meaning that I now have to carry two books up the remaining hills) so maybe I can make a good start in my new book...
I’ll see.... I’m on holiday!
Little hedgehog, ruining the life of all native animals. Full is full, no more hedgehogs!
Fairlie, all towns here are the same...
Little church on burkes pass
Looking back from the top...
Mountains! And they got specks of snow on them!
Yep they’re mountains alright...
First view on the lake! The color is stunning!
Modern bridge over the lake...
The color is created by find dust that comes with the water from the ancient glaciers. So basically the water is just mirky...
It looks really cold...
Many tourists here though. And many more...
