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So we survived the night, with no adverse effects from the wild mushrooms. There is a definite autumnal feel to the air in the mornings now and you can see your breath in the air inside the camper van! Luckily there is a small fan heater, which takes the chill off whilst we're waiting for the kettle to boil. Tony still goes off for a shower just dressed in a pair of swimming shorts, which he insists on calling his "bathroom trousers", but as a concession to the cooler weather this morning he did have his bath towel draped round his neck instead of over his arm. If it gets really cold, he might wear a t-shirt!
We set off back into the lakes and glaciers region, heading North, so on the other side of the Southern Alps compared to where we were before, when we were heading South. We drove in the general direction of Lake Tekapo, but did a bit of a detour to get a closer look at Mount Cook. We parked near the Sir Edmund Hilary Alpine centre and had an hour's walk to a place called Kea point, (but no Keas to be seen, maybe they're nocturnal) which gave us a really good view of the snow capped peaks accross the valley. We attempted to drive to the Tasman glacier, but it was 8km down an unmade road, so after about 1km of rattling along in a huge cloud of dust, we decided it probably wasn't a good idea and turned round.
We had another lakeside lunch, with a view of Mount Cook accross the turquoise water, perfect. As we neared Lake Tekapo we turned off to visit the Mt John Observatory, up another hairpin bend road at over 1,000m. Although we didn't go in to see the enormous telescope, as it was due to close, we did walk round outside, and had far reaching views over the whole landscape in all directions. A couple were having their wedding photographs taken, just below the cliff top, on a narrow path, with the stunning view of Lake Tekapo in the distance far below. We visited the tiny lakeside chapel where they had got married, the church of the Good Shepherd, right on the edge of the lake, which is supposed to be the most sought-after wedding venue in the whole of New Zealand, and one of the region's "must see" destinations! We thought the township was a bit too touristy for us, so we headed on to the little town of Fairlie. We had our evening meal in a local pub, (which closes at 8pm). there were only 8 other people in the place, so we had a nice chat with them all. Everyone is so friendly. The sky was a bit cloudy, so we weren't treated to the wonderful clear starry skies you're meant to see in this area, but they're expecting the southern lights any time now, so we may be lucky over the next few nights. Good night.....
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