New Zealand Part 26 - Mt Cook

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Over priced icebergs, freezing nights, crying with fear and Elton breaks down again….Noooooooo!!!

Well after the anticlimax of Dunedin, we were looking forward to seeing Mount Cook and Lake Tekapo, but we weren’t quite expecting it to be so cold. It could be that we had spent the last few days in the south of New Zealand or it could be that summer is now over here, but it has been getting pretty cold recently. Anyway we had ummed and arghhed about going to Mount Cook as it was again one road in and out and a long detour if there wasn’t anything to do. I had read about glacier kayaking which looked good so we decided that this was reason enough to head there. There was however only one camp site near the mountain which at best was still a good 20km away but we didn’t really have any choice - and they obviously knew that as they were pretty expensive. The drive up took us through some stunning scenery with our ears popping a lot along the way before arriving at the campsite just after the cloud had descended upon us. We were fairly close to the toilets but the walk over in the cold made them feel like they were miles away. There were even signs inside the loo saying please keep the door closed to stop the pipes from freezing - geese glad we hadn’t come in winter. We did consider sleeping inside the toilets as they were heated but instead we hopped that Elton would somehow keep us warm, hey we couldn’t leave him out in the cold on his own!!

Next morning once we had thawed out; we got ready to head to Mount Cook. We got to see the amazing scenery around us for the first time as the cloud had cleared away and it was actually looking quite nice even if it wasn’t very warm still. As always when snow is involved, I got very excited as we drove to the mountain and saw lots of snow topped peaks, much more than in Franz Josef. We had booked to do the midday glacier kayak so headed to the only thing in the region which was the Hermitage Hotel. This hotel was now the third version after the first was flooded by the valley river, and the second was burnt down!! It was a pretty posh modern hotel, which I had read about previously as being expensive even for a drink but it did have great views. I almost fell for the draw of a warm cuppa whilst looking at the mountains but Nath soon pointed out that we could have a cuppa in Elton with the same view for free - god I’m so easily convinced by tourist draws.

We sat inside Elton and had a rushed lunch just as this huge storm came out of nowhere. We were being blown all over the place and poor old Elton was bearing the brunt of it, so we move him to another parking spot behind a bigger van so he was sheltered - me thinks we are anthropomorphising a little too much about our van!! We figured the storm may well move on but had both thought that perhaps the tour would be cancelled. Either way we went back to check in at midday with our gloves and hats as it was now really cold and windy, and as suspected it was cancelled till 2 pm. Oh well with nothing else to do in the area expect pay for over priced coffee we settled back in Elton and waited for two hours. We should have known the day would turn out like this as the weather only improved slightly and when we went to join the 2pm tour it too was cancelled. Ok beginning to think we’re being told something here. They were also going to cancel the rest of the tours for the day so we booked in for the next morning, which was a bit of a pain as I really wanted to keep on schedule and get to Lake Tekapo.

So with nothing to do we went on some of the surrounding walks to see views of the glacier and terminal lake. The weather had improved even though it was still freezing and I’d have rather stayed inside Elton again, but as we had not really been out of Elton in over 24 hours cabin fever was setting in so we braved the elements and went on a windy walk. Now something in my head had suggested (to burn things - no not really!) to check out where the tour takes you to kayak with these icebergs. I think because we had done so many “tourist must dos” and found a few of them ok rather than amazing as they were advertised, I was a little suspicious of the kayaking but felt it could be really cool. Needless to say I’m so glad we checked out the lake ….floating in the distance were maybe 4 broken bits of ice, dirty and tiny. Not quite what I had expected from the great photos on the brochure. There was no way we were now gonna pay $150 each to boat around these tiny pieces of ice, that with Nath’s camera zoom, we managed to get some great shots of them anyway!! So we drove as quickly as we could back to the hotel to cancel our booking. This sort of thing has happened a lot on our travels and is actually quite spooky in the amount of things that have turned out to be the best outcome after initial disappointment. The psychologist in me says , don’t be so easily lead, the mind is designed to make the other option your left with look like the best option after all so to prevent any cognitive dissonance, however the side of me that is increasing since we’ve been travelled, the more spiritual side says well it does seem as though we are being looked after, as everything has always turned out for the best in the end…..I dunno, maybe too intense a thought to go into right now…….

Anyway with Mount Cook having been a bit of a disappointment (but if we hadn’t have gone up there we would have always wondered if we’d missed out) we headed in the evening sun towards Lake Tekapo. We had decided we would freedom camp again and found a nice spot over looking a smaller nearby lake just as it was getting dark. Lake Tekapo has a couple of large sky telescopes as the skies around the mountain range are some of the clearest in New Zealand - which is saying a lot as we’ve seen plenty of lovely clear skies. So this spot we had to freedom camp was perfect if not a little cold (we’d hoped driving further form Mount Cook would be warmer but if anything it was colder). However as I started cooking dinner some locals passed in their car and told us to get out we weren’t to camp here. So with the night drawing in and Lake Tekapo another 20 mins away we drove as quickly as we could to the only camp ground in the area which also happened to be shutting in 15 minutes!!!

We got there just in time but were horrified to find this site was the most expensive so far AND they charged you for the showers as well - bloody cheeky gits!! But we had no choice so had to stay and just moan about it, as we Brits do so well. This was also the coldest night we had ever had in Elton. We were sat inside with our clothes and a blanket round us just so we could sit and eat without shivering too much. In the end it was too much so we went and used the very cosy internet room (which smelt a little of BO) that seemed to have the entire electric fire collection of Lake Tekapo plugged in. I’ve never wanted to sleep on a sofa so much, but in the end we had to brave the cold and go to bed. I think we slept with our heads under the covers as our noses were going numb. We had thought about staying two nights here but what with the price and the weather I think we were both happy to move on to the warmer east coast - we were just hoping that the flight we wanted to do would have good enough weather tomorrow so we didn’t have to hang around any longer….

You do stupid things when you’re half asleep, I woke up at one point in the night and couldn’t hear Nath breathing and assumed because of the cold that he may have frozen to death. So after poking him a bit he took a breath and I went back to sleep but when I remembered doing it the next morning I felt a bit stupid (so why Mand have you put it on the blog!!!!) anyway next morning the cloud cover was pretty high so we figured we’d go and ask at least about the best time to do the flight. I’d treated this the same way as all of the adrenaline/scary experiences that I’d done during NZ, I just decided I was doing it and didn’t give it another thought until the time came - this seemed to work quite well in stopping me being nervous leading up to the trips. So we pulled up at the airport and saw one little plane on the runway waiting to take off. As I got out the van to go and enquire about the flight, one of the guys came straight out to meet us and asked if we wanted to go right now. Seems they had a couple of seats left and rather than send another plane up at another time they’d rather squeeze us all in now. We felt a little rushed but they did their best to convince us that the weather was as good as it was gonna be that day so now was the best bet. So we believed them even though we both felt they would say anything to get us on the plane, and got on board.

What luck too, there were only 4 other people on board and no one wanted to sit up by the pilot, something Nath would have really wanted if there was the chance, so when asked if one of us would mind sitting up front I said that Nath would happily do that. I was really pleased for him but this did mean I would be sat at the back of the plane on my own, but hey what could he do if something went wrong, nothing really (morbid I know but true). I was a little nervous as it was the 13th today and that I was sat by the door, but tried to ignore my stupid thoughts. The plane took off so smoothly and within minutes we were heading over Lake Tekapo and towards the mountain range. It was fabulous and as with the helicopter flight I couldn’t believe I hadn’t done something like this before. I’d bought Nath a flight a few years a go for his birthday and his dad had gone with him as I wouldn’t, so I figured hey from now on I’d go too this was brilliant (sorry Gywn). As expected there was a little turbulence in a small plane and although it made my stomach spin a little I was ok. Nath was up front and filming the whole time loving every second of it. He’d turn round every now and then to check I was ok and although I was still a little nervous I’d smile anyway so he didn’t worry.

I was really getting into this flying thing, at one point I was so blown away by the snow topped mountains that I gasped and fogged up the glass!! However unfortunalty this was all about to change…..we had flown the route backwards as the pilot had said the wind was quite strong over part of the journey, so we were flying over the mountains and glaciers first rather than last. The plane started to get really bad turbulence which I could accept to begin with but then it felt like there was just too much and we were being battered about by the windy coming off of the mountains. I kept looking around everyone else seemed ok but there was a little light flashing each time we got battered and the pilot was so busy looking out the windows pointing things out I felt angry at him for not noticing as I was sure this was a warning!! And that’s when my imagination took over, I thought the pilot was worried but wasn’t saying anything, I felt like the door was going to open and I’d get sucked out and I had nothing to hold onto bar the back of the next person chair, so needless to say my knuckles were white as I strained to hold on as tight as I could.

I was starting to hyperventilate slightly but was trying my hardest to keep it under control, Nath had noticed I wasn’t too happy but he couldn’t do anything and the pilot kept apologising for the turbulence and checking we were all ok, but didn’t seem to notice me freaking out!! We were flying round the most amazing part of the tour Mount Cook it self at the time and I so wanted to enjoy it, but the turbulence was making my stomach curl and my body was just taking over. I started to cry as we passed over the mountain and I closed my eyes (I really wished I hadn’t as I missed flying over the Franz Josef glacier we had climbed which was something I’d really wanted to see). That was it I couldn’t stop the tears and soon everyone was aware that I wasn’t really coping. Everyone was passing me sick bags thinking I was being ill but all I wanted was a bag to breathe into to try and calm down. This worked amazingly well and soon the turbulence was over. In fairness looking back it was probably only a few minutes, and I wasn’t expecting such a negative reaction but I just couldn’t help it.

For the rest of the trip I calmed down and enjoyed the journey back although I was disappointed to have missed the most spectacular part when I shut my eyes - dam it!! Soon we were back on the ground and everyone was checking I was ok. I felt a bit stupid now but at the time I was sure something was gonna happen - isn’t it funny the things you can convince yourself of, to the point you get a physical reaction! Anyway although I described the trip as a nightmare for me in parts, it was AMAZING and I would do it again. Nath loved every minute of it of course

With the flight out of the way so early we were undecided whether to stay in Lake Tekapo another night, mainly because it was so bloody cold!!! But everyone had said how nice the lake was so we went for a little tour round the town. I blinked and we were finished!! The town was pretty much a street with a few cafes, tourist centres and shops. Ok ok so people come here just for a week’s holiday I understand but I figured there’d be more than that. We drove to the church of the good Sheppard - a tiny cobbled church on the bank of the lake. It was a pretty site but always surrounded by tourists - dam them - so in need of some sugar to stop me shaking (not sure If I was cold or it was the adrenaline still) we stopped at a cheap lunch special café to try and warm up. It was nothing special, just a buffet but we were right by an open fire and it was bliss. Before long I was aware of two fuzzy little shapes whizzing around outside on a side street….

The two Spencer like kittens were playing around in a bush and playing stalking games with each other. They were so funny to watch but I was a little concerned (as always) with how thin they looked. So I went out to say hello. They saw me coming and hid in the safety of their bush but eventually one of them came out to investigate. The smaller of the two and the braver was a little girl, but also very skinny so we decided to call her twiggy, the brother who was a bit more scared didn’t really come very close, we called him bark. It was so lovely to have some pussycat cuddles, that if it wasn’t for the cold I’d have sat out there longer. I went back inside to see if I could steal them some meat from the buffet table but I was too late - they were cleaning up after the lunch rush - dam it. Nath and I went back out as I was concerned they didn’t have an owner, and I don’t think they did, but when we went out the chef was feeding them scraps and had given them a toy mouse to play with so I felt a bit better. After ages playing chase the shoes lace and twiggy jumping on and attacking my hands, we left them be (even though I wanted to take them with us) but we did get some very funny shots.

Because we had some people interested in viewing Elton before we got to Christchurch we decided we would go see the church of the good Sheppard now it was quieter and head towards the half way stop of Ashburton this afternoon, as it would no doubt be quieter and warmer than staying another night at Lake Tekapo. Whilst Nath got some good shots of the church, as I’m crap at taking photos still, I decided I would start cleaning Elton as he hadn’t had a good scrub since we had bought him and he deserved to look his best for his potential new owners. I should have mentioned before, we had originally put him on a auction website but the original reserve price hadn’t been met, and with only a few weeks till we left in which to sell him we had put him back on for another week. It was this second entry that got us more interest so we were hopeful this couple in Ashburton would be interested enough to buy him.

We spent that night freedom camping just outside Ashburton which was a little sad in that we knew it could be out last freedom camp. We had been so busy trying to get the last few things done and worrying about selling Elton that we hadn’t really given much thought to our time in NZ coming to an end, let alone having to say good bye to Elton. So we took our time getting up and enjoyed the birds cheeping and our leisurely breakfast in the sunshine. So full of the joys of spring, so to speak we headed towards Ashburton, telling the couple who were gonna view Elton we would be there in a couple of hours. We passed some hitch hikers on the way and I felt compelled to help them out. They wanted to go to Christchurch but were more than happy to come as far as Ashburton. It was a really warm day, and I mean really muggy, we had to drive along with all the windows open just to keep cool, which was fine by me coz after the initial chit chat about where we were all from etc I wanted to stop talking to our guests and enjoy the scenery.

We hadn’t been going long when Nath noticed that Elton was juddering a bit at low revs, but we were hoping that it would pass. It didn’t and by the time we got to the outskirts of Ashburton we had to pull over as Elton died at the side of the road - noooooooooooooooooooooooo not again!!! Not now when we had people wanting to look at him, why Elton why?? We kicked the hitch hikers out and started trying to figure out the problem. It was a hot day so we did wonder if this was an issue again, what with the shoddy work done in New Plymouth it wouldn’t surprise me. Just as were giving up hope this guy approached us, well staggered towards us anyway, with ripped jeans, scuffed boots and a drunken look on his face. We immediately judged him and when he asked if we needed a hand, I was the first to try and brush him off. He offered to drive us round the corner to his house where he had something that would help - he apparently worked with cars so knew his stuff and that morning had just pulled a car out of the river (yeah your car you mad drunk driver!!!). he thought it could be moisture in the petrol due to the cold and so tipped some mentholated spirits into the tank and it started straight away. We were so thankful and felt so bad for judging him that we gave him some cash for a beer. Just goes to show if you’re not in an American tourist area you can’t assume everyone is out to screw you over.

Our luck didn’t last long though, as we tested Elton down some long straight roads he started spluttering again. In the end we had to give up and call the break down people. The AA guy was as much help as a penny farthing for a midget - giving a few things inside the engine a wiggle he sent us on his way saying its “running now”, yeah but for how long?? - don’t think he really wanted to be out on a Sunday (why do we always break down on a Sunday or a bank holiday?). So we had to call the couple who were interested, lie that I was ill so we would have to postpone and booked in to a near by campsite, hoping we could book last minute into a garage for first thing Monday morning….come on we thought, we could do with some good luck. We felt Elton was being a bit mean but figured it was because he didn’t want to leave us. So we spent the evening trying to reason with him but to no avail. I was trying to keep faith that there must have been a reason for Elton deciding to break down, I mean after all we had picked up those backpackers which was nice of us, we didn’t have to, so surely that was worth something to someone (you know who you are!!).

Next morning we were up at the crack of dawn to take Elton to the only garage that would see us first thing, without a few days wait for a spot. So by 8am we were at a local garage. He checked a few wires around the engine and said “I think that one was loose, try that it should work and if it doesn’t come back and I’ll look again". It was free and quick and he was right - no more problems, something so simple, we couldn’t believe our luck. Nath spent ages punishing himself as he had checked the wires but not the loose one, but I pointed out, for it to be something so simple there must be a reason for it, maybe it would make sense later? So we parked up outside the camp site and arranged for Tony and his partner (the interested couple) to come and view Elton in their lunch break, hoping they would still be interested after we had messed them around. We hadn’t been sat in Elton long when an older couple than I was expecting pulled up and started reading Elton’s for sale sign. We knew Tony was coming over so went to introduce ourselves only to find this wasn’t the couple at all. Pat and Peter had just by chance passed us on their way back to their home in Christchurch and were looking for a campervan for Pete to go fishing in as they had both retired and Pat basically just wanted him out of the house!

They were REALLY interested and didn’t even try and barter about the price, which was more than we were hoping to get anyway. We couldn’t believe our luck. For us to be on this road, when we should have been in Christchurch by now and for this couple of have been passing at the same time and live in Christchurch (which made out lives easier for dropping off) I thought this must be why Elton broke down. He knew this couple would be coming along - how spooky life can be some times, really makes me wonder about things. Anyway we had to honour meeting Tony so agreed to meet Pat and Pete in Christchurch later that evening. The auction was also due to finish in a few days so who ever wanted Elton would have to move fast (once someone bids you cannot remove your item from the auction whether your reserve is met or not). When Tony and his partner arrived and we told him we had some one really interest I felt like all those con artists you meet when ever you’re trying to buy something, that tell you you need to be quick coz someone else is interested, but this time it was true. He didn’t seem to believe us and started giving us some spiel about how his friend couldn’t sell his and had to get rid of it for a lot less than we were asking. He even argued pricing psychology with Nath that we had already taken into account that this was the end of the camping season and had priced Elton accordingly, so that through haggling we’d get what we actually wanted. They didn’t seem that impressed but said they would follow the auction on line.


With the viewings over we headed for Christchurch, our final stop and with the future of Elton to be decided….we crossed our fingers hoping someone would want him…….

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Photos

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eeerrrrr, we dont know, we just stoped to take the picture!

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A nice view to start the day

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local shep having some kind of demonstration "eat more bacon" I think they were saying

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Snow yippeee

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This what happens when Mandy is allowed to drive the rental car!! only kidding it was the sheep

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Crappy iceburgs

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ice, ice, berg

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Beautiful but bloody freezing

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Mount Cook from afar

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Great sunset over Mount Cook

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Me trying to look like I'm fine (is it working?)

Comments

[Donna]

Wow
This photo is amazing! There's so much to look at that my brain thinks it's photoshopped.