So having realised when we came to book the hostels that we couldn't start our travels heading west because the accomodation was fully booked, we decided we would travel south first and do the whole trip the other way round, finishing with Franz Josef, Arthurs Pass and our new dolphin appointment. Not knowing New Zealand I had decided this meant that we would be doing the less spectacular stuff first...Lake Tekapo had other ideas!!

The journey over was pretty amazing, the weather was much clearer so the mountains were very visable, dominating the landscape and looking quite imposing at times. When we arrived at the lake I couldn't believe how quiet and tranquil it was, how amazingly blue it was! We literally pulled over at the side of the road and took the little path down to the waters edge before walking around part of the side heading a little closer to the mountain range that lined the far side. We sat, alone, on the rocks and skimmed stones for a good 45 minutes...it was gorgeous. Trev said he remembered visiting a little church further round the lake so we headed back to the car and continued on the road a little further to find the 'tourist spot'! Even this wasn't too bad, but another girl and myself waiting a little while to get a shot of the church without japanese tourists in the front of it...and when there was a break we literally both shot at the same time!

Once we'd looked around we headed to our accomodation. We passed the YHA on our way which had been fully booked when we had called for a bed, it was positioned very near the lake and looked quite cute so I was a little disappointed we hadn't managed to get in...I needn't have been! We arrived at the motel/campsite and were told we had a lovely cabin on the lake! ...the owner was not kidding! A gorgeous cabin with massive patio doors at the foot of the bed which opened out onto an undisturbed view of the lake! Another bonus...they had a spa complex on site and for a little extra Trev and I spent 3 hours in the hot tub watching the sun go down and the stars come out! As we were sat in bed with a glass of wine thinking about how our travels had started we spotted the biggest, brightest moon either of us had ever seen rising just above the lake. We walked out and sat on the shore watching it rise...perfect!

We had seen opportunities to take a scenic flight when we'd arrived in the village and we went to enquire about a flight that afternoon with it being such nice weather. They couldn't fit us in but they said the weather was supposed to hold and so we could go up tomorrow morning. We woke up eagerly to see a beautiful blue cloudless sky and so off we went for the 10 o'clock flight...

When we got there the man at reception said there was only us two and could we go at 11 because they fly with a minimum of 4... We made it a little uncomfortable by debating this infront of him!! (much to Trev's discomfort)...but it worked!! We didn't have to go at 11 with a bus tour of 7 and another 3 people...we could go just us two at 10!!! We met Isaac, our pilot and went out to our plane ( a 7 seater!!). So we take off in the smallest plane ever (ok not ever but pretty close) which gets buffered about by what little wind there was (so little wind we took off and landed in the same direction!). We settle into the most amazing experience before Isaac says "there's a family who want to join us so we're going to go and pick them up" - bonus, so we get a 10 minute private flight before the 50 normal tour! Because there was more of us Trev and I were asked if one of us wanted to sit in the co-pilot seat, being a gentleman Trev obviously offered it to me....oh no, wait - Trev thought only once...of himself...and before I could answer volunteered himself as co-pilot!!

The flight was just amazing...bright blue lakes, little green fields, massive snowed capped mountains and huge glaciers. It was so amazing I had to ring Mum when we got back to the car and welled up describing it to her. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. Trev said he could hear the other pilots talking to Isaac through the headphones and they were all saying how gorgeous it was up there that morning. I filled out the evaluation form at the end and under 'suggestions for improvement' put "nothing, the whole thing was perfect".