Mount Cook and Lake Tekapo

Last week Dave and I spent three days on a little trip. We drove 1.5 hours north along the coast, then turned inland at the Waitaki River. The 1.5 hour drive west to Twizel was absolutely beautiful, a river valley with mountains in the distance. We stayed in Twizel, and on the second drove north toward Mount Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand (3,724 metres, 12,218 feet). Just outside of Twizel is an amazing view of Mount Cook with Lake Pukaki in the foreground. Here are a batch of photos of Mount Cook, beginning with that view across the lake. When we got up to Mount Cook Village, there was snow on the ground, so you'll see one shot with a snowman in the foreground, which we did NOT build!

Here are a few other shots of the mountains on the way up and back that we liked: 

We drove back toward Twizel, and right before we got to the town, we turned northeast toward Lake Tekapo which is renowned for a little church on its banks called the Church of the Good Shepherd. The view from inside the church is amazing. It's tiny, but a popular site for weddings. I wondered how a whole extended family could pack inside that tiny place. After visiting the church we went up a tall hill to a cafe next to an observatory, and you'll see a couple of shots from up there.

Paintings from Dave's sketchbook

I finally got around to scanning all the watercolor paintings (and one drawing) that I particularly liked in Dave's many sketchbooks.  I'm going to post a few of them here. Most of them date from after our arrival in New Zealand in 2007, but a few of them come from 2004 to 2006. What I find amazing is that Dave insists on calling them "sketches." Some of them are so lovely and so detailed, I consider them paintings.

 Lake Te Anau, about four hours west of Dunedin:

 Mt Joseph and Lake Alexandrina, about four hours northwest of Dunedin:

 Camp Tirohanga, a Presbyterian camp near Dunedin where we often go for retreats:

We've stayed several times at our friends' house on Lake Hawea, about four hours west of Dunedin, so you'll see several paintings of Lake Hawea:

 Lake Hawea. The tall mountain is called Corner Peak:

 Lake Hawea:

 Kaptiti Island, just off the southwest coast of the North Island

 Lynne doing her favorite activity:

 Anglican church in Paihia, Bay of Islands, North Island:

 Lake Manapouri, about 4 hours west of Dunedin:

 Governor's Bay, Lyttleton harbour, near Christchurch:

 Oban Presbyterian Church, Stewart Island:

 Nyhaven, Copenhagen:

 Halfmoon Bay, Stewart Island:

 Alki Beach in Seattle:

 Lake Harrison in British Columbia:

Woodland Park roses, Seattle:

 The greenhouse (glasshouse) in Dunedin's Botanic Garden:

 Jonathan's hats at his and Aki's Woodland Park Apartment:

 A church in Oamaru, one and a half hours north of Dunedin:

 Roses in Auckland in December:

 Two Maori wakas (canoes) at Waitangi on the North Island:

 Lynne at age 4 in Wiesbaden Germany. Dave painted it from a photograph:

More roses from Woodland Park, Seattle: