Unless you’re after a kiwi souvenir, keep your Tekapo shopping expectations pretty low. The Lake Tekapo main strip is rather small, and there are just a handful of shops.

Tekapo Ski Shops

Lake Tekapo does not have a ski shop per se. The Tekapo information centre (aka post office aka Kiwi Treasures shop) sells a couple of jackets that you could possibly wear skiing as well a handful of beanies. They also hire out a small range of basic ski clothes.

There is no shop in town that has ski and snowboard hire. Other options for equipment hire are at Roundhill, which has a pretty good range of hire gear. Mt Dobson also has ski and snowboard hire, but this is pretty basic.

The closest ski shop is the Ski Shack in Fairlie, 41km east of Lake Tekapo.

Souvenir Shopping

The Tekapo township has a few small souvenir shops with a couple that also double as craft shops. Alpine Haven is a huge juggernaut souvenir shop that sells all things kiwi: the mandatory sheep related souvenirs; sheepskin and woollen clothing; wood carvings; and Pounamu jewellery.

Grocery Shopping

The village of Tekapo has a 4 Square supermarket on the lakefront, which seems like a strange use of the real estate!