Lupins in Tekapo
The beautiful and controversial lupin flower appears each November. Huge colourful fields now emerge along the lake shores, streams, canals and highways of the Mackenzie Region of New Zealand.
This is the start of the Mackenzie lupin season. The beautiful lupin flowers are white, lavender, pink and red. Set against the Mackenzie Country’s turquoise glacier lakes and dramatic skies, they are an Instagrammer’s dream.
New Zealand lupins are stunning, but they are an environmental problem as they are an invasive weed. The story goes that lupins came to live in the Mackenzie in the 1950s, when high country station families sowed lupin seeds to beautify – and possibly, to stop erosion on – bare tracts of land along the roads throughout the region.
However problematic they may be, they are here so just enjoy them – who doesn’t love a beautiful display of colour and happiness?
