High country church

I believe I mentioned it earlier, but one of our main reasons for coming to New Zealand was to skip a Northern Hemisphere winter in exchange for three summers in a row. I mention this because our next and breathtaking stop, was Tekapo, and it was freezing. Precisely one degree below zero celcius in the morning, on the bus. Diesel engines take a while to warm up. The cold was well worth the stop as we rolled through Mackenzie country, passing along the feet of the Southern Alps, Past the battlefields of Pelennor Fields (yes you read that right) and on towards the huge glacier blue lake Tekapo. Having traveled and lived a bit in Europe and the UK, I have a love of old stone churches, and a weak spot for tiny ones, but the church on the shore of Lake Tekapo has maybe the best location on the planet. Just check out the view from the Altar. Who cares if it was built to distract the remote sheep farmers from over tending their vulnerable flock, I’d sit in that church all day. Also, it took me a second to remember this, but the architecture of the church is someone unique. Sometime in the 50’s, most churches shifted their altars away from the back wall of the church; where pastors had originally performed most rites facing the cross, they now faced the congregation; Catholics could also now know what they were saying as they stopped using Latin. As this altar was built into the wall, it retained the old fashioned flair. The air was crisp and clear. There were just enough clouds to obscure the highest peaks, including Aoraki/Mt. Cook. The Maori name means “cloud piercer” as it often is the only peak that stands above cloud layers that cover the ranges. This mountain is considered the original ancestor, a creator god, and the Maori fought and won legal battles that ensure it must be first referred to as Aoraki and have pushed the climbing community to acknowledge the summit as Tapu, or sacred, and a place where people are not to stand. The whole are certainly makes an impact, and is one of the most scenic landscapes we have passed.