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Published: February 28th 2014
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River of Sheep
I wish I could upload the video. This was really crazy! I left Christchurch on the 3rd anniversary of the earthquake. After much trepidation about driving on the other side of the road, I picked up my car at the Christchurch airport and drove off to Mt Cook. For some reason I was more nervous about driving on the other side of the road than I was for my first plane solo. I figured it would just be part of the adventure. Turns out, it was somewhat anti-climatic and really didn't take me too long to adjust to driving on the other side of the road!
I had been wanting to visit Mt Cook ever since the day my friend Laura drove me to the airport to leave for this trip. I had been too busy and still hadn't gotten around to buying a guide book. Laura stopped at a bookstore and helped me pick out a book, purchasing the one with the most pictures of cool places (Fordor's 'See It New Zealand). The one that stood out was the picture of a back packer on a swinging bridge with mountains in the background. I had know idea of where it was but knew I must go there. Reading
the guidebook, I found out it was Mt. Cook. So, that pretty much determined how I got to where I was going today.
On the way, I had to cross a river of sheep. Literally there were hundreds, maybe even thousands of sheep crossing the road for about a kilometer! The car in front of me drove right into and through them! So, I just followed very slowly. It was amazing watching the sheep work there way across and around my car! After about 10 minutes, I made it through the sheep river and continued on my way. The drive was gorgeous winding through hills and around the impossibly blue and clear Lake Tekepo and Lake Pukaki.
As I entered the park there was a sign indicating this was a World Heritage Site. It is understandable why - the scenery was stunning! 22 of NZ's 27 peaks over 3050m are in this park.
I arrived at the YHA Backpacker's Hostel in Mt Cook Village. I was a little concerned after the bad experience in Wellington but this place was like a lodge. It even had a sauna! I was bunked into
Hooker Valley Trail - 1st Swinging Bridge
Hmmm, somehow my camera got switched to sepia mode. I didn't notice with my glasses on. Looks kinda timeless! a mixed 4-share with some other kids - Tina from Germany, Megami from Japan and Michael from France. All spoke English except Michael but he didn't seem to mind.
I was anxious to start the hike and headed out to the Hooker Valley trailhead. It was incredibly windy. I found out later the wind was 80 gusting to 100 knots! It made for an exciting crossing of the three swing bridges along the route! Crossing the second swing bridge and turning up the valley, I got my first view of the dramatic Mt. Cook, also known as Aoraki, the Maori word for Cloud Piercer. It was easy to see why. There were clouds that covered the other peaks but Mt Cook stood above them. It looked so close that I'm sure I could have climbed to the top if I had started earlier ;-) It was a beautiful 7k hike on a well maintained trail to the terminus of Hooker glacier. In total it took me just under three hours to complete the round trip, even fighting the gusting winds.
Afterwards, I headed over to Mt. Cook Backpackers where I ordered an amazing salmon
Hooker Valley Trail - 2nd Swinging Bridge
This was the most challenging as the wind was whipping through that valley shaking the swinging bridge. It really was shaking up and down when I crossed it! I must admit I had second thoughts but decided it was just a bit of wind! dinner with wine and sat in their sprawling restaurant with huge windows overlooking the valley. This appeared to be another really nice backpacker hostel with each room having a balcony with mountain views!
I retreated back to the YHA and hung out in the common room on a comfy couch, reading and relaxing with the quite chatter of many languages surrounding me. I was very content!
Me and my bunk mates turned in for the night. All tired from our individual adventures and we were soon sound asleep. Fortunately none of us snored! I feel asleep wishing I had another day or two to explore and take in some more hiking around the area but I had already booked my soaring adventure in Omarama the next day. I would need to come back again to explore this very special place.
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