Back on the road today to visit Lakes Tekapo & Pukaki before heading back to the coast and a nights stay in Timaru.

Before leaving Christchurch this morning, we enjoyed another lovely breakfast with views down over Mount Pleasant to South New Brighton Bay.

Once on the road we quickly found our way out of Christchurch and made our way to the outskirts of Timaru, before turning in land past the famous pie shop and fish in Fairlie and on to Lake Tekapo.

Arriving at the lake we now appreciated why people had told us to make the 2hr drive from the coast. Lake Tekapo is known for its turquoise waters, and is also a great spot for stargazing as part of the Aoraki Mackenzie Dark Sky Reserve (clear skies with limited manmade light).

To see the snow capped mountains glistening in the sunshine over the lake was a magnificent sight.

Added to the glorious views, there were wild purple lupins growing all around the lake.

We decided to hike around a section of the lake and having left a mild Christchurch at 18 degrees, we were pleasantly surprised as the day heated up and soon reached over 25 degrees. T-shirts and shorts were on display, in fact we walked past a number of sunbathers next to the lake who were in their swimmers making the most of the heat and bright blue skies.

We then spent a couple of hours enjoying the lakes beauty, skimming stones across the shallow water and going for a paddle.

After spending time at Lake Tekapo we drove a further 30mins on to Lake Pukaki where further turquoise waters emanated from the minerals from the mountain waters.

With the heat rising it was hard not to see the merit of a swim in the lake, however after Andy went for a paddle he was quick to say it was still chilly and only 10c degrees.

Back at Lake Tekapo and a visit to the Church of the Good Shepherd on the lakes edge is a great spot for a photo or two.

Lupins were everywhere as we went for a further walk and got a few more photos of the amazing lake views.

After a wonderful day in the Lake District of the South Island we drove back to Timaru where we spent the night.

Tomorrow we head down the coast on our way to Dunedin and a night with our Kiwi friends Michelle and Jenny. Looking forward to catching up with them after first meeting on our Japan tour back in October.