Day 4: Wednesday 7/4/04 Dunedin – Lake Tekapo

Accommodation: Lake Tekapo Motels and Motor Camp

Lakeside Drive Lake Tekapo

Phone 64 3 6806 825 Fax 64 3 6806 824

http://www.laketekapo-accommodation.co.nz

Days Activity: The group will travel by car (mini bus) from Dunedin to Lake Tekapo.

Some Site seeing along the way.

News for the Day by: Jack and Phil G.

Good day

First thing was an early start to get ready for the long journey to Lake Tekapo. The first management fault to start the day was Geoff and Anita managing to forget that the car needs petrol to operate correctly. After Matt and Sam took the red junkheap (old van) down to the servo to get some fuel, we were on our way after a quick stop at Kathmandu. The exhausting because of the continuous need to stick your head out the window to get some fresh air as opposed to the gas chamber which reeked havoc in the red junkheap. A big thanks to Matt and Sam for that effort (It was truly a endurance training session).

On the trip we past many notable points, the top two being Shag Point and Blueskin Bay. Oamaru was the lunch stop for the day and cheap shoes were on the menu at ‘The Warehouse’. The trip then continued inland and the cars were soon dwarfed by the towering mountains covered in snow only kilometres away. A photo stop or two were required for every new higher mountain or deeper dam we saw, which added up to around 17. But the greatest photo of all was at our destination of Lake Tekapo. With Mt. Misery rising straight out of the lake to 2305 metres above sea level and water a bright aquamarine, the destination was even too good for a postcard. Snow comes right down to meet the lake and we are surrounded by mountain ranges with Mt.Cook (NZ’s highest mountain) not far away.

After settling in, we went for a flatwater sprint session on the cold lake as the course is not yet running but we will be down there tomorrow at ten o’clock when the dam wall is opened to allow the course to flow. After our freezing session we all scrambled to showers which cost two dollars and can only be used with a two dollar coin, unfortunately for some. Currently it is just above zero degrees outside and the water is frozen to our boats along with the gravel from the carpark. It is expected to go to around -5 degrees tonight and snow is likely to fall during the night up to an half an inch thick, as it was yesterday morning.

Everyone is in good spirits and the coaches are getting into the spirits.

Good Night all and have a happy sleep because we sure won’t be.