Leaving Mount Cook was the time when our group of 7 was cut again, this time to 5 as Phillippa and Ian were staying for a few extra few days. So the morning started with more sad goodbyes. The weather was still awful and it was raining so hard as we left we couldn't even see Mount Cook.
 
We were supposed to head past the scenic Lake Tekapo with just enough time to get a quick photo of the turquoise lake, the dog statue built to commemorate the working collie dogs of the MacKenzie country and the Church of the Good Shepherd which was built in 1935, before continuing to Geraldine and Rangitata (home to incredible Lord of the Rings scenery!) BUT ...
It had snowed even heavier overnight and was still snowing, meaning that once we reached Tekapo, we were stuck! The authorities closed the roads in both directions to towing vehicles (which, because of the trailer full of our bags, we were!) even if they had snow chains on! This meant we wouldn't be able to visit Geraldine or Rangitata but did mean we would have longer at Lake Tekapo and were able to visit the Hot Pools. This may of been a bit of a relief for Seagull as he openly admitted he didn't know what we would do in Rangitata as he'd never been there in winter before when the rafting was closed. 
 
Lake Tekapo is New Zealand's highest lake at 710m and is the largest of the 3 lakes in the MacKenzie area (the others are Lake Oahu and Lake Pukaki). It is reputed to have one of the clearest and most unforgettable night skies in the world but with all the snowfall we weren't able to get a good view! The lake is a beautiful turquoise colour and this is because finely ground rock from the glaciers fed from the Southern Alps via rivers into the lake . It's clear to see how the little church in front of the beautiful lake is the most photographed church in the whole of New Zealand. It used to be the second after Christchurch's cathedral but unfortunately that fell down in the earthquakes therefore giving this one the top spot.
 
Seagull arranged us some emergency accommodation so, once we had checked in, a group of us ventured out to find the famous Lake Tekapo Hot Springs! It was really cold outside so we all made the dash from the changing rooms to the pools in our swimwear as quickly as possible but were soon disappointed as the hot pools really were not that hot! In fact, the 40 degree pool was closed and the 38 degree pool was only about 36! So it wasn't all that comfortable laying in them! They were certainly nowhere near as good as the ones at Franz Josef as they had no covered areas either so when it rained (or snowed!) you really got cold! We stuck it out as long as possible before giving in and making our way back to the hostel. There were 4 others who came with us which was nice as it gave us a chance to get to know some more of our new group, there were 2 sisters from Canada along with a girl and a guy from Germany . It was lovely chatting and relaxing in the water despite being chilly.
 
Matt and Roman had offered to cook dinner so Ella, Nienke and I enjoyed a glass of wine while they set about cooking up a storm making Matt's speciality: Carbonara! Yum! With their share of the cooking out of the way, the boys set about playing card games and getting to know some of our new Stray mates a little better while us girls attempted to bake a cake! I'm not really sure where this idea came from but we quickly realised that, despite having checked there was a working oven and buying a cake mix, we actually had nothing to bake it in! This led to a bit of an experiment: can you bake a cake in a saucepan? Our concerns were proved pointless as we served up a delicious chocolate cake which everyone enjoyed! So yes, saucepan cakes work!
 
Knowing we all had to be up super early in the morning to make up the ground we hadn't covered today, we agreed it would be sensible to have an early night. Of course, as you've probably realised already this never actually happens with our Stray family so at gone midnight we were still up playing cards and drinking games! We were losing more family members in the morning so it had to be done!!! For some reason we chose the most complicated games to play which led to a lot of people getting pretty frustrated and a lot of people having to drink a fair bit! Somehow it even ended up with us having arm wrestling competitions which was pretty hilarious as us girls were all about as strong as each other so they seemed to take ages then no one would actually win as we had sore wrists and arms . Matt however did pretty well and beat Roman and Tom which even he was shocked about as usually he's not very good.
 
The evening came to an abrupt end though, when the group of 3 Kiwi lads who were staying at the hostel asked us whether we had ever heard of a golf ball gun?!?! Of course we hadn't so they explained that its like a spud gun except it fires golf balls and they just happened to have one in the boot of their car which they could demonstrate for us! We all traipsed outside and stood overlooking the lake while they fetched and set up the gun. The next thing we know, there is the most almighty bang which made us all jump and saw us girls go running for indoors! Almost seconds later, a man pulled up at the hostel asking for information about the gunshot and after confessing, the Kiwi guys were asked to leave! It was probably a good thing the night ended then as, with a 6am departure time, we were all going to struggle getting up as it was!