KEY POINTS:
It's hard to know what the famous old collie dog makes of it all.
Standing alertly beside the Church of the Good Shepherd, with its ears pricked up and one eye on the beautiful lake, the statue of the sheepdog has seen a fair few changes in recent
times.
Tekapo used to be a spot you stopped at for a pie and a pot of tea on the way back from Mt Cook or Queenstown, but it's now becoming a place where you stop, drop and explore, for a couple of days at a time.
Since 2000, the township has mirrored other lakeside towns and developed apace.
As well as the creation of close to 250 sections for holidaymakers and the building of a number of hotels and motels, the town's recreational facilities have been brought into the 21st century.
The Roundhill ski area was re-opened in 2001 to complement Mt Dobson - although Dobson's future is uncertain with recent news it has been placed on the market - and ice skating received a boost with the recent opening of the Winter Park. Skating has been a feature of Lake Tekapo since locals bulldozed out rinks beside the lake in 1937 but it has relied on Mother Nature to provide the ice. Now an international-sized artificial rink has been created and guarantees it. In December the park will open the doors to its hot springs and spas.
Earth and Sky are hoping to establish the world's first World Heritage StarLight reserve in 2009 to coincide with the International Year of Astronomy. There are few better places in the world to gaze at the stars on a clear night than Mt John Observatory, and that includes Hollywood and Leicester Square.
There is a danger, of course, that too much development in too short a space of time can have a negative impact on an environment and some have questioned the pace and scale of development in and around Lake Tekapo. The Mackenzie District Council and locals are, generally speaking, determined to get the mix right, especially as the council plans for the population to increase from about 400 to as many as 5000 in the next 10-15 years.
Tekapo doesn't pretend to be a mini-Queenstown or Wanaka, and nor does it want to be one, but further development is in the wind.
"Tekapo has seen development done in other areas and tried to take the best bits from there and avoid the worst," says Christian Burtscher, director of the Roundhill ski area.
"Tekapo is all about peace and tranquillity, taking it easy, and enjoying the beautiful environment."
It's not a difficult thing to do.
Tekapo is in the Mackenzie Country in the middle of the South Island, a region of vast open spaces, golden tussock-covered hills, snow-capped mountains, turquoise-coloured lakes and, of course, Aoraki Mt Cook.
It's a place to get lost - Scottish sheep stealer James Mackenzie and his faithful dog Friday drove their booty into the sparse region that now bears his name to escape the authorities and visitors have been doing it ever since.
It's also a place where time slows down, where sitting on the edge of the lake and watching the sun go down is a mystical experience (the sheepdog hasn't been tempted to move from his spot in 40 years). The view up the lake to the Southern Alps on a calm and clear day would rival the best anywhere in the world.
Despite the recent development, there's still an old-school feel to Tekapo. It's quaint without being peculiar in a Midwest America kind of way, and it's quiet. Blissfully quiet. Just how quiet it remains is really up to the locals.
There is talk of further development, a couple of golf courses and plans to spruce up the town centre. Change seems inevitable but one thing will remain the same, the sheepdog will be there to oversee the proceedings.
- Detours, HoS
