Lake Tekapo, Geraldine, and Christchurch
It’s only a short drive from Omarama to Lake Tekapo. Friends of us who were bikepacking had rented a posh house there so we could spontaneously jump on their bandwagon and sneak in. Noice! Beautiful views of the lake and the mountains from the balcony. One evening we had clouds slowly creeping and flowing over the mountains, almost like a gigantic bubble bath gone atomic. Wonderful atmosphere and colours. Plus great kayaking on the lake!
The second-to-last stage of our trip was Geraldine. We’d passed through here many times but never spent much time exploring the area. Except for one very muddy hike in Peel Forest many years ago. Well, this time, we first walked about Geraldine a bit, explored the fairly pretty and fairly nice fairly small town of Fairlie, the Pleasant Valley, and Timaru. A real gem is the Miaflora Café and Garden Centre. And Café Verde, of course.
One final leg stretcher was waiting for us, and what a finale. Way better than Game of Thrones. Peel Forest again, the Little Mount Peel via South Ridge and Deer Spur Loop Track, to be precise. I’d chosen this one because going up South Ridge was rumored to be challenging. And what can I say? It’s true. What a fantastic track! At times almost vertical uphill sections, heavily overgrown, dense vegetation – a real nice slog up the mountain. I enjoyed it very much! The Reisebegleitung, well, not so much. But that’s life. Deer Spur on the way down is nice and gentle, I would not recommend going down South Ridge. Or going up in bad weather. Visibility can change within minutes, you can see that in the photos. One minute, clear skies and beautiful views, ten minutes later you’re walking in a dense cloud. Once you get below the tree line, it’s a supermagical forest – and also supersupermuddy! Great fun! 🙂
Jack’s Point Lighthouse
Wrapping things up with a bit of cake, chocolate, dessert, and a walk along the beach to Jack’s lighthouse in Timaru, then back to Christchurch, get packed and off to Singapore for the last three days!
