Day 2, Accomplished: South Pacific Motorcycle Tours base to Lake Tekapo – 261kms

I stopped at a lookout just near the Farm Barn cafe on the way to Lake Tekapo, because it looked like this:

I arrived in Tekapo around 16:30. I checked in, opened the curtains and was shocked to discover a distinct lack of Jucy vans or other cars in view. Instead, I saw some blue stuff, some green stuff and some white stuff.

Put it all together and it looks a lot like this:

Truth be told, the trip here was hairy. The wind is blowing so fiercely that I was on a tilt when riding perpendicular to the gusts.

It’s such beautiful weather that I want to head up to Mt Cook, but I’m going to pass on that, due to the wind. If it’s fine in the morning, I’ll give it a go.

For now, I’m going to grab the panniers off the bike and haul them inside, along with all my camera gear.

I’ve got a stargazing experience booked for around 10pm tonight, so before that goes down, I’ll saunter down to the lakeside for some photos.

I will probably hit Tekapo Ramen 🍜 for dinner 👌 😉

6:30pm – I’m going to get sick of saying ‘beautiful’ all the time.

8:45pm

The ramen was okay, but I’ve got a far bigger issue to sort out. This deserves its own post.

9:30pm – Nature turns.

Unfortunately, it seems as though the overcast conditions earlier seen creeping over Lake Tekapo have set in.

Gusts are expected up to 100kph tonight in some mountain areas and along with it, will come rain.

Sadly, this means that tonight’s stargazing experience may be hamstrung, but let’s see what they put on instead…

10pm – Booooo~!

Unfortunately, the Dark Sky experience was cancelled due to the overcast conditions.

I opted for a refund, with the idea of coming back through this way in a few days to experience the two hour long session instead.