Lake Tekapo & The Best Pies in New Zealand! – Day 200

Pie: an iconic Kiwi food. Today we’re gonna show you where to get the best one in the country. Oo that’s controversial. Oops.

Oh my God can you guys believe that we have already spent 200 days tackling activities all around New Zealand and there is more to come. Today, Day 200 starts with a pit stop at the Church of the Good Shepherd which is a true tourist hot spot.

Ok, I’m going out there. I’m going to take photos of the Church of the Good Shepherd but I’m so scared. There’s so many tourists.

Although this is our last day in Lake Tekapo we couldn’t leave without checking out the Church of the Good Shepherd. This is probably one of the most photographed buildings and it lupin season meaning that those beautiful purple flowers that you have probably seen on every single picture of the area are in full in bloom and we are taking full advantage of it.

The lupins aren’t here all year round though, we’re here at the perfect time in December when they are just coming into bloom and they stick around till late February and although the lupins are considered a pest in New Zealand you have to admit they look pretty damn good.

It’s unsurprising that this is a top tourist hot spot in New Zealand. The whole place looks absolutely stunning with these beautiful purple flowers, this really quaint little historic church looking out onto the blue waters of Lake Tekapo and right in the backdrop we can see the Southern Alps as well. This is really is a special place to be.

An interesting story about the lupins though, it’s not actually certain who introduced them into New Zealand it’s said that they started cropping up around the 1950s where some people say that farmers used them to better the feeding conditions of merino sheep while others say that a farmers wife planted them all around the area to liven up the place.

Whatever the reason you can see them all over the Mackenzie region now and after spending time at the Church of the Good Shepherd we are now hitting the road to our next destination which is going to be the township of Fairlie. However, we are keen to do something along the way so we have heard about a place called Lake Opuha which apparently has a walkway all around the lake which sounds awesome so we can’t wait to go check that out.

Lake Opuha is definitely not well known in the area. there is a campsite where we’ve been told this is where the start of the hike would be but as for finding this start of the hike it’s a little bit of a tricky one. We find a lot of mud patches a muddy lake, we found a lot of cow fields. We venture ourselves really off the beaten track but it really looks like we’re not going to find the beginning of that god damn hike.

Well sometimes when you write a travel guide you have to follow one small hint that someone gave you and sometimes that hint was just this…

A swamp of farm…

Ok, so we won’t be adding #thatfairlieswamp onto NZPocketGuide.com but we have heard that Fairlie has a lot to offer there is apparently an outdoor photo exhibition and New Zealand’s best pies and Kiwis are really serious about their pies so it better be super good.

So the lake was a bust but it looks like the bakehouse actually exists so we are heading the Fairlie Bakehouse right now we are in the centre of the little township of Fairlie and hopefully there’s gonna be some amazing homemade goods delicious treats that’s gonna make us forget the fact that we didn’t get to see a lake.

In the quaint little township of Fairlie it’s pretty easy to find the Fairlie Bakehouse it’s basically where every car and person is lining up at lunchtime.

And as soon as we arrive we meet the head chef.

Alright so what’s your specialty?

Pork Belly Pie with apple sauce and crackling on top.

4 tonne a month. Holy shoot.

Now it’s time for us to see what all the fuss is about. Robin and I are getting ourselves a pork belly and apple pie which is absolutely amazing. Definitely one of the best pies that we’ve tried in New Zealand so far. And because Day 200 is a day to celebrate we’re also treating ourselves to a baked cheesecake.

With our bellies full we decide to go for a little wonder around the town of Fairlie which is also known as the Gateway to the Mackenzie Region and to celebrate that it have this outdoor photo exhibition of all the main hot spots.

After that we are then going to our accommodation for the next couple of days which is the Fairlie Holiday Park for a well deserved rest.

It is such a comforting feeling as we bite into that pie it’s like aw. Everything just feels right. When we bite into that pie, we get the perfect balance of sweet and savoury. It just crumbles but not too flaky so it makes a mess it just flakes into your mouth. The crackling makes a satisfactory crunch as you bite into it. Aw. It is amazing.