Mt. Cook & Lake Tekapo

We made our way to Mt. Cook, another location that was not on our initial itinerary but was highly recommended. Queenstown to Mt. Cook was the least scenic of our time in New Zealand, but it is all relative. Often as we passed the beauty someone would yell, "Harmons!" to remind us that in a few days we would be back in a city, in a dry climate where browns dominate and views just aren't quite the same.

Let me pause, though, to say that we really began to see that Utah had similar beauty to much of the alpine beauty we saw in South Island. We gained an appreciation for the beauty we had at home. While different overall, we decided to spend more time exploring Utah's national parks.

The drive approaching Mt. Cook is really remarkable. The lake is an aqua blue from the glacial snowmelt. Geoff must have taken 200 photographs trying to capture it (I know, I just sifted through them all!) In the end he took a picture of a postcard, and it is showing the real deal. No fancy filters or editing.

After getting some warm tea at the lodge, we went on a short hike to get out and stretch our legs before moving on.

You could see where they glacier had carved the valley in the last few decades (the line along the mountains). A new glacier is making its way down (far behind Adele). In the spring and summer there are huge ice chunks floating in this lake! Very interesting to see glacial valleys forming right before us.

Here is the other direction.

And to add a little humor, these signs were in all the public bathrooms on South Island. Made me chuckle after our squatting in Cambodia! I'm so grateful to be back with toilets!!!

We spent the night in Lake Tekapo. This is one of the best night sky locations too. Cloudy. We were grateful to have all seen the sky unexpectedly.

Before pulling out of town the next day we went to see the little church on the lake. I had walked to it from our Airbnb early that morning and was so bummed I didn't have my camera. The sunrise colors on the aqua lake were otherworldly. By the time we went later it was packed with people and the lighting wasn't nearly as good. Still something about the little church on the water was so pure and good.

I loved this sheep dog statue.

On my early morning walk, with the brilliant morning light illuminating the sky, I pondered the sheep dog. We had seen a few in action during our long drives. It was always the same, the sheep dog would lay in attention, waiting for his masters call. Different calls mean different commands. The sheep dog is anxious and alert. At the signal, it races off to complete the task, immediately obedient, then waits for the next command. The sheep comply to the dog's maneuvering, maybe not willingly, but the dog knows what to do. It has learned the wisdom and signals of the master "shepherd". 

We often refer to church leaders as shepherds, and in the Middle Eastern sense, they are. No sheep dogs over there. But with the big herds in New Zealand, they are the standard. I love the image of a sheep dog alert and anxious to obey the shepherd. I love that it knows how to recognize the commands, commands that work. The sheep dog doesn't just run around based on its own knowledge, it only responds to the shepherd's specific instructions. There is so much to learn from this beautiful relationship. I want to be like a sheep dog. Ready. Alert. Jumping to action at the master's call. A reminder for me.