Tepako 2

Good morning. Out for another tramp up the mountain.

I have seen these coffee stat out in the middle of nowhere and in park parking lots. They pretty popular.

I loved these pickup truck pop-up tents.

Another one. This one must be the Cadillac of truck-bed tents.

It is a pretty tall mountain, and as you can see- very steep  Yesterday, I walked up the right side and down the left.  I reversed it today with some slight variations  I added some distance beause on both days, I walked from the villlage which adds about 3 miles Amazingly you can walk the same trail, and then when you walk in the opposite direction, you see totally different things.

Today was practically cloudless  so I could see the snow-covered mountains in the distance.  That is Mt. Cook - I think.

New Zealand is full of Maori Legends. According to New Zealander John Caswell, "One of the legends of Lake Tekapo is that it was dug out by explorer Rākaihautū with his digging stick called Tūwhakaroria. After arriving in Nelson, Rākaihautū split his people into two groups. Rākaihautū led his group down the middle of the South Island, digging the freshwater lakes of South Island as he went. His son, Rakihouia, led the other group down the east coast of the South Island."

Motuariki island (mentioned above) was originally visited by Maori people for special occaisions.  Tourists used to be able to visit the Island, but there was a fire in 2014 and it remains closed.

The chair inbetween the heart was turned around and the heart was decorated with flowers. It wasn't that way yesterday, so either there was a wedding earlier or there will be one later.  What a beautiful setting for a wedding except the nearest road was about a half mile away.  I can just imagine trying to walk there in a white wedding dress and heels through stick-tites and weeds.  Not to mention, the wind was very strong and my hair would have been standing on end.  Not even close to how happy my Mom would have been. Just kidding Mom. Oh, well what the heck - that is what hair spray is for. I would be a beautiful place for the photos.

Every turn on the trail was absolutely stunning.

Look how clear this water is.  Just gorgeous.

Sooooo, I finished my hike, and with my little house came free admission to the Tekapo Springs. I forgot to bring a swim suit but I read on-line that you could rent a swim suit. Not so sure about renting a swim suit?  But, I walked the 15-20 minutes to the entrance and the young girl at the desk suggested that I just wear what I had on.  She said, "We don't care as long as you wear clothes."  No chance of me not wearing clothes.  So I had on a pair of tight pull-on shorts and a tank top (full undies top and bottom)and I thought what the heck.  I tried the hot pool - ahhhhh - for my worn out muscles and then the warm pool and then the cool pool and back to the hot pool.  It was heaven. I should have thought this through earlier.  I didn't even have a towel to dry off.  I went to the showers and rinsed the clorine off, and tried to wring out my clothes. Ladies, did you know that whose tight pants/shorts become huge when they get wet? I didn't but I do now. So I have to take the walk back to my little house dripping wet, and tangled, but clean hair.  In that 15-20 minute dripping walk, people stepped off the walk-way to let me through. I have never felt so important.  I never said a word to anyone. I didn't want them to know I was American and possibly crazy.

After I dried off, I decided to treat my self to a good dinner at the Rakirui Restaurant purported to be farm to table and Tepako's top restaurant.  Of course, that was their ad. It didn't disappoint.

I started with the "bitter greens with champagne dressing", which turned out to be a salad of butter lettuce, fresh oranges, and various other vegetables.  I thought that it would surely be arugula (my favorite) but it wasn't. It was excellent even without arugula.

I then ordered the Piri-Piri chicken pizza which was described as having roasted peppers and a swirl of Piri-Piri sauce.  At my first bite, my tongue said, "call the fire department." But then my tongue was scorched and my lips went numb.  It is a good thing that I love fiery foots. Each bite just got better and better. It was close to the heat of a habanero (bonnet) pepper.  Definately hotter than a jalapeno.  The chef peeped around the corner, and when he saw that I was happy, he came out an talked with me.  Indian man (explains the heat).  I have half of the pizza left for lunch tomorrow or heck, maybe breakfast.  Start the day with a kick.

Sooooo - it is off to bed I go.  Tired and tummy happy. 

Sweet dream to you!