Sunday, May 27

May 27, 2007

We woke up this morning around 8 so we could plan to have breakfast around 8:45 like yesterday. Because the New Caldonian couple had departed at 5 am (actually, I heard them leaving closer to 4:45!!!), we were the only one’s having breakfast today and we hadn’t specified a time with Sean and Nic yesterday.

When we went into the kitchen/living room area Sean and Nic were sitting in there one of them on the sofa and the other in one of the chairs. Josh was sitting in the other living room chair so that left me to sit at the kitchen table.

Sean and Nic lounged around there and talked to us for thirty minutes before offering to make breakfast. Because Josh had enjoyed his omelet so much yesterday, I decided to have one myself. Breakfast was really good and Sean and Nic ate with us. Highlight of the conversation for me was informing them about Tripadvisor and how Omahau Downs B&B was listed on the site because they’d never heard about it before!

We got on the road around 10:30 and headed towards Lake Tekapo. On the way there, we pulled over to take a look at Mount Cook and Lake Pukaki. It was such a nice, warm, sunny day so the water was so incredibly blue to look at. The drive to Lake Tekapo didn’t take very long so when we got into town, Josh went to the information center to get a map so we could figure out how to reach our holiday home.

First, we had to get the key from someone named Jenny at 8 O’Neil Street. As it turned out, Jenny operated a Bed and Breakfast but held the keys to the Rylee Retreat holiday home for Deb. Jenny asked how long we’d be staying and I told her two days and then we were off to the house.

We had spotted the Rylee Retreat as we had driven to Jenny’s house so we returned there and parked the car. Finding the entrance to the house was not so easy because where you park the car and where you see sliding glass doors onto the deck is not where you enter the house. The main entrance to the house is on the other side of the building which you can’t see from where you park.

Once we had that all figured out, we unloaded our gear and Josh commented that this was probably the third worst place we stayed at on the trip (above the two hostels). Well, it was only $100 a night for a 3 bedroom house so it was a good deal anyway. It wasn’t flash and there wasn’t really any coffee left to drink but it wasn’t a horrible place.

Josh and I decided to check out the sites in town but first we had to reschedule an event we’d signed up for ahead of time. When I was planning our trip, I scheduled us on a Star Gazing tour at the Mount John Observatory. The tour was scheduled for 8:00. Because the American Idol finale was coming on tonight instead of next week, Josh and I decided that we should change our star gazing tour from tonight to the following night.

We went into town and visited the Earth and Sky office but they didn’t open until 3:00. It was around 2:30 so we walked down the strip of shops in town (about 10 shops or so) and then we popped into a café to use the internet for about 30 minutes. After we’d checked our emails (and read more good reviews about the Excellence Riviera in Mexico which we’ve had on our brain for a return trip once we’re in the Northern Hemisphere again) it was time to see about changing our star gazing tour.

The woman at the office made the change for us with no problem and said as it was, we were the only people booked in for a tour the following day. However, she did note that tours are canceled a lot due to wind and cloud so there was no guarantee for going on a tour. We decided to take our chances in order to watch the finale of our show.

Next, we drove a short distance to the Church of the Good Shepherd. Josh and I were the only ones there for about 5 minutes before a tour bus unloaded about 30 people at once. The people from the bus only stayed about 10 minutes and then Josh and I had it to ourselves again. The lake view and the church itself were really nice on this sunny and completely clear blue sky day.

Near the Church of the Good Shepherd is a tribute to the collie dog for all the assistance that the dog has historically provided the Mackenzie Country sheep farming. Josh wasn’t blown away by either place and soon we were on the road toward Mount John Observatory to take in the daytime view.

And what a view it was! The Lake Tekapo village below on the shores of the lake plus all the snow capped Southern Alps in the distance were just amazing as the sun continued to set in the sky. At the top of the hill, there is a café and observation area. It was pretty windy and cold outside so Josh and I went in to the café to enjoy the view. I ordered a mochachino and Josh had a piece of apple pie. The view was just amazing and we really enjoyed our time up there.

The café closed at 5 so Josh and I headed back down the hill into Lake Tekapo. We ordered takeaway at Jade Palace. I had sweet and sour chicken and Josh had chicken curry. While the food cooked, we went down to the grocery store to buy Diet Coke. When we returned to the restaurant 10 minutes later, our food was ready.

We went back to the house and got everything set up for dinner. After dinner, Josh started a fire for us in the log burner and spoke to Ken Leadley, a Rotarian in Ashburton who we planned to stay with for two nights. After speaking to Ken, Josh said we’d only stay at the Ledley’s house for one night. This was fine, however, it meant we’d have to decide where to spend our extra night before arriving in Ashburton on the 30th.

Regarding the fire, we spent a good deal of time trying to locate matches in the house and were really fortunate we found some in the pantry because we didn’t want to drive back to town even though it was less than 5 minutes away. Josh got a great fire going for us and we watched tv and the American Idol finale (Jordin won as Josh predicted weeks ago). We were glad that we stayed in to watch the show.

We didn’t really have plans for the next day other than going on the star gazing trip but that wouldn’t be until 8 pm anyway. I went to bed planning to sleep in the next day.