Lake Tekapo, Fairlie and Rakaia

We visited the cafe at Mt John Observatory for a (very expensive) sandwich and view over the lake and mountains. The land there was so brown - the region is in the midst of their longest drought in decades.
The girls loved the hot pools at Lake Tekapo. There were several different pools with shady areas and waterfalls. Poppy was splashing us all on purpose and happily showing us her new skill! And Rosie managed to float on her back without being held for 10 seconds! Think she was most excited about getting an ice cream for doing so well.
We drove on as there wasn't much at Lake Tekapo and everything looked so dry and brown. Stopped at Fairlie instead where they had a great play park next to the campsite. We put a wash on, ate dinner outside, borrowed a story to read to the girls and had a nice chat with the owner.
In the morning we headed off to an Animal Park nearby. Rosie really enjoyed feeding the animals, but she fell in love with the three baby guinea pigs they let her hold. And I fell in love with a 5 day old lamb called Noodles who loved cuddles! Poppy was really happy to have cuddles with Noodles too.
We're staying at a campsite in Rakaia tonight. The river here is meant to be one of the best salmon fishing rivers in New Zealand, but we've just missed the season for it sadly. Had a nice walk through the fairy trail in the woods and down to the river though. This afternoon Rosie painted a rock to add to the fairy trail and helped me make a bread and butter pudding. When Poppy woke up she joined us for dinner and was very excited to have sweetcorn, peppers and sweet potato!Read more