Total journey time from Wanaka to Christchurch is around 5 hours by car. So we left early that morning drove off to our first pit stop, ie Geraldine. We took the Inland Scenic Route 72 through to Geraldine and then Routes 79 and 8 to Lake Tekapo. We reached Christchurch about 3 p.m local time.
Lake Tekapo
This famous lake is the second-largest of three roughly parallel lakes running north–south along the northern edge of the Mackenzie Basin in the South Island of New Zealand (the others are Lake Pukaki and Lake Ohau). It covers an area of 83 square kilometres (32 sq mi), and is at an altitude of 700 metres (2,300 ft) above sea level.
Upon arriving there, our eyes were treated by remarkable turquoise coloured lake to the mountainous drama of the Southern Alps. However, I think our camera did not do justice to this lake. The lake was really picturesque turqoise-blue colour. Lake Tekapo gets its intense milky-turquoise colour from the fine rock-flour (ground by glaciers) which is suspended in the water.
On the shores on the lake you'll see the Church of the Good Shepherd, where the altar window frames a perfect view of Mount Cook. The church was built in 1935 for the pioneer families of the Mackenzie district, and it's a popular photo spot for visitors. However, to be honest, it did not thrill me much. It was the only cute little construction that anyone could find there - like a miniature house right in the middle of the beautiful lake.
Geraldine is a small town, located about 140 km south of Christchurch. It has a country village atmosphere, with majestic old forests, early settlers cottages and little arts and crafts corners. It seemed to me very much like a tourist town.
At Geraldine town, I found the BEST ice cream in the world. Seriously! It's Kapiti Ice cream. Well, I am not so adventurous and very picky when it comes to ice cream. I would normally have berry and chocolate-flavoured ice cream and I would only try tested green tea and black sesame cream. No butterscotch, honey or anything like that for me because normally it turned out to be disappointing.
The store, that carries less than 10 flavours (if I am not wrong) of Kapiti ice cream has different variations and quite adventurous. And it tasted really good!
I have to say that even if you are there during the winter, this ice cream is still a must try! You must get it here in Geraldine because I could not find it in the mall/store in Christchurch. I even asked some of them there and it appeared that they have not heard about this ice cream. Ice cream that is soooo good yet no one has heard about it? And it was not being sold at major stores? Hmmm....
Okay, The store is located along the many stores there, where you could also find a store selling all kinds of sauces- Barker's. Here, you could taste any sauces you want and purchase it (It's okay if you don't purchase anything, feel free to taste almost everthing there). I bought a bottle of plum sauce (I wished I could buy more but it was not easy to carry it on the plane), which is really really nice that I only use it a little bit - cause I want it to last as long as it can.
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