Lake Tekapo is nestled in the heart of New Zealand's South Island. the second-largest of three roughly parallel lakes running north–south along the northern edge of the Mackenzie Basin in the South Island of New Zealand. It covers an area of 83 square kilometres, and is at an altitude of 710 metres above sea level.

Lake Tekapo is famous for it’s beautiful turquoise blue colour. This is a product of the surrounding glaciers. The glaciers in the headwaters of Lake Tekapo grind rocks into a fine dust on their journey down towards the lake. The resulting particulate, called “rock flour,” is suspended in the water and causes the magnificent turquoise.

The Lake is also famous for it’s lupins. The lupins found around Lake Tekapo have beautiful tall pink and purple flowers. Lupins are not native to the area but planted by a local woman over 70 years ago and now have become one of the areas beautiful features.

Mid-November to December are the best time to see the lupins and one of the best photographic spots is at a view point called Adrian’s Place on the way to Mount John Observatory on Godley Peaks Road.

And Mount John Observatory is another must do when in the area. New Zealand's premier astronomical research observatory. It is situated at 1,029 m at the northern end of the Mackenzie Basin. There are 6 telescopes including the country’s biggest which can observe 50 million stars each night.

Part of the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, Mount John is one of the best places in the world to observe the planets, stars, galaxies and solar systems. It is also considered one of the most accessible observatories in the world. Tours and viewings are available.

And of course you can’t visit Lake Tekapo without a stop at the Church of the Good Shepherd. Built as a memorial to the pioneers of the Mackenzie region, the foundation stone was laid in 1935 and the builders were instructed the site was to be left undisturbed and that even the matagouri bushes surrounding the building were to remain.

Visitors are welcome to attend a service and this is the home to many weddings – of course!

Just along the way is a statue commissioned by local farmers and erected in gratitude to and celebration of the sheepdog. Life-sized, and standing proudly on a stone plinth, it’s a tribute to the invaluable contribution the collie has made to farming in the Mackenzie Country.

And if that isn’t enough for you then you can always enjoy hot springs, play areas for the kids, a snow tube park and a day spa at Tekapo Springs.

A small New Zealand lake with a lot to offer!

Aotearoa is the Maori name for New Zealand, though it seems at first to have been used for the North Island only. Many meanings have been given for the name but with Maori names the true meaning can often be found only in a mythological story or in historical fiction illustrating either how the name was given or something of the ideas which prompted it. Aotearoa is made up of either two or three words, Aotea and roa or Ao tea and roa. Aotea could be the name of one of the canoes of the great migration, the great magellan cloud near the bright star Canopus in summer, a bird or even food; ao is a cloud, dawn, daytime, or world; tea white or clear, perhaps bright, while roa means long or tall.

The most popular and authoritative meaning usually given is “long white cloud”, and there are two stories current to illustrate this. It seems the voyagers to New Zealand were guided during the day by a long white cloud and at night by a long bright cloud. The more usual one tells how, when Kupe was nearing land after his long voyage, the first sign of land was the peculiar cloud hanging over it. Kupe drew attention to it and said “Surely is a point of land”. His wife, Hine-te-aparangi, called out “He ao! He ao!” (a cloud! a cloud!) Later Kupe decided to call the land after his wife's greeting to it, and the cloud which welcomed them. The name Aotea was given both to the Great Barrier and to the North Island, but the latter became Aotearoa, presumably because of its length.

According to certain authorities, the other meanings are: big glaring light (Hochstetter); continuously clear light, or land of abiding day (Stowell); long white world (Wilson); long bright world, long daylight, long lingering day, or long bright land (Cowan); and long bright day (Tregear). A good case could probably be made out for the land of abiding day, or similar names. Maui, who is closely connected with New Zealand in mythology, once snared the sun and beat him to make him travel more slowly across the sky. Perhaps Maui achieved the same end when he sailed south to fish up New Zealand where there is longer day with long twilight, particularly in the south.

'AOTEAROA', from An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966.
Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand
URL: http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/1966/aotearoa (accessed 06 Jan 2021)

With domestic travel currently the only wise activity within Covid restrictions, our local tourism industry could really do with the support so Linku2 are featuring on a number of articles to help you pick what would suit you and your family to get out and enjoy our beautiful country!

100% Pure New Zealand have some great articles to give you great ideas and as well as their North Island Must Do Experiences (linked through our North Island pages) of course there is the South Island experiences including exploring the Marlborough Sounds, Mt Aspiring National Park as well as many other outstanding national parks and of course great cities like Queenstown and Dunedin. Check these out and enjoy every single one of them! NZ.com top South Island Activities ...