Weekend at Mount Cook

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Wow, the majestic beauty of mountains - Mount Cook, the tallest in New Zealand. And what dramatic weather we had!
Spent Saturday morning in Fairlie watching Avery play rugby. He made his first try (that's similar to a touchdown in US football)! The weather had been quite warm on Friday and the barometic pressure was dropping. All our Kiwi friends said this meant snow. It was really windy on Friday night, at home we surely would have lost power, and Sat morning the same. After the game we drove to Lake Tekapo, but by this time is was a down pour. We stopped and saw the "batch" (hut) where we will be staying in July, shopped (had to purchase some gloves, hats and long underwear), and had lunch over looking Lake Tekapo. There were actually speed boats out racing - brrrr!
On to Mount Cook... We arrived in awe of the beauty of the mountains and surrounding area. We were staying at the Alpine Lodge which is a lovely family owned and run lodge. We had a family room (a king size bed and bunkbeds with a mattress on the floor), but there was huge community room with a full kitchen, great views, and a toasty fireplace. After a cup of tea, we headed out for a hike up down (and up) the Hooker Valley Trail. This trail goes to a memorial to those who have lost their lives on the surrounding mountains - always a bit eerie to read about. Then, on over the suspension bridge to view the glacier and the glacier lake. The water color is so incredible. Most of the lakes we passed had water that was turquioise blue. This lake was a cloudy white from the glacier run off. We wanted to get close to the lake so we did a big no-no and left the trail. You could see a huge cloud bank coming in from the south. We were following the lake stream so I knew we couldn't get lost, but none the less, I was getting a bit anxious to get back on the trail and to our hotel before we were stuck in cloud cover and/or snow. Since our shipment from the US is still stuck in customs in Christchurch, none of us had proper winter clothes. We have managed to purchase a few pairs of mittens (I actually had some in a pocket that I didn't know about and for some reason I brought Graham's gloves), but no hats. I was the only one with hiking boots that I threw into my suitcase at the last minute. We all have raincoats - some warmer than others - and were wearing multiple layers (the only way to dress in NZ). We made it back to our hotel just as the snow was starting. It snowed all night long. The kids befriended, wee Harry, the owners 5 year old son, and they had a blast throwing snowballs and rolling round in the fresh snow. Gregg and I hung out in the lodge and watched them play, read about the area, and shared a bottle of wine. It was so gemutlich that we were sorry we had a dinner reservation at the Hermitage at 7:30. We trudged up to the 5 star hotel in the snow - beautiful! At that point we realized we were not in the mood for a formal dinner and opted to instead hang out in the bar instead. Great idea as the food was perfect, the fire was roaring, and we watched the All Blacks (the national rugby team) play Ireland in pouring rain in Auckland. We are becoming quite the rugby fans. I swear I never watch this much football, or any other sport for that matter, in the US. Even the tennis French Open is of very little interest to us. We stayed at the bar until after half time then made our way back. The lodge owner, Tony and his mates, were watching the game on the big screen tele, so we joined them for the rest of the game and a few beers. What a great way to end an incredible day. Oh, and it was still snowing!
I will start by posting this part on the blog and continue with Sunday later....

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Photos

Mount Cook in the background
Feels like snow on the way...

First suspension bridge
Very bouncy!

Glacier
That's glacier ice floating around and icebergs!

Glacier Ice
Yummy, Yummy

First Snow
Whoopee!!

In from the cold...
And covered with snow...