Burkes Pass

We woke up after a lovely sleep and discovered that the shower was worth staying for in the otherwise shabby-looking motel.

We pottered down to Geraldine town centre and had breakfast at Subway, followed by a quick mooch in a NZ walking shop and then bought some lunch at the local bakery. We found his and hers gingerbread men which we thought were pretty cute so look out for those in photos later!

The drive to Lake Tepako was stunning!! Driving into the mountains through lush green fields and tree lined roads was reminiscent of driving through the Lake District ... although with blue sky and 20oC temperatures! Many of the trees are starting to lose their leaves in the NZ autumn and it was so pretty watching them tumble down as we drove through them ... nature’s own confetti!

Signposts alerted us to the fact that we were close to the lake and then ..... there is was!! A magical pool of green glacial water with a spectacular view of Mount Cook as its backdrop! we stopped for a quick photo and then drove to the tourist hotspot by the Church of the Good Shepherd.

We parked up, grabbed our packed lunch and headed out for a walk round part of the lake. It was pretty windy (but still warm) and eventually we found a lovely sheltered spot for our picnic by the lake. After a romantic stroll back to where we had parked we got back in the car and headed towards Oamaru .... the home of the little blue penguin!

The countryside en route continued to amaze us - so similar to home but so much of it and so green. The blue sky and sunshine just makes it paradise though! We arrived at Oamaru about 3pm and our first impressions was that it was a bit like Fleetwood/Blackpool big without the tat! We had a little explore of the town after checking into our hotel (Brydone Hotel) and spotted pretty buildings, a steam railway and an I-Sight tourist place where we booked our penguin experience. We had a couple of hours until our viewing at the colony and discovered a brewery so spent a very lovely 90 mins supping a couple of pints of home brew in the sunshine by the sea. Perfect 😊

We arrived at the Blue Penguin Colony about 6pm and loved all the ‘penguin crossing’ road signs!! There were hundreds of cormorants perched on the pier and we had a hilarious conversation with a couple of passerby’s who thought they were penguins!!

The penguin experience was great, if a bit artificial. The nesting boxes were built by the conservation team and not quite what I was expecting. Watching 2 rafts of penguins waddle up the rocks (24 in all) was a special experience. The penguins were absolutely adorable and it was such a treat to see them flap about trying to cool down after hours of fishing in the ocean.

We tried to find somewhere to eat after leaving the colony and unbelievably everywhere seemed closed!! The only place we could find was a Chinese restaurant called Golden Island .... and the food was edible but only just! Well, we have been spoilt so far I guess!! We headed back to the room with the full intention of going to the bar for a nightcap .... but ended up snuggling up and fell asleep!! Ooops!Read more