Blogs from Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 6

On the bus ride to Mt Cook and I met up again with Charlie, Andreas and Derek as they were heading north to Mt Cook from Dunedin and I from Queenstown. It was good to catch up again and carry on our travels. We reached Mt Cook and went for a little walk as we didn't have much time before the light went dark. We should have stayed a few more days as the Scenery was spectacular and we could have gone on some walks, but we only stayed for one night. We entered the quiz and didn't do that great due to 50% of the questions being about New Zealand, but was still fun. Apart from that didn't do to much had some beers and got up early to watch the first half of the ... read more

Originally when we were first planning our New Zealand itinerary, we were a little clueless about the roads here. One tramping guidebook we were using had the Welcome Flat trail from the West Coast on one page and the Mueller Hut trail from Mt Cook on the very next page of the same section. So, logically we decided that these two trips could be done back-to-back. Silly us, the two areas are on opposite sides of the divide, and the shortest drive from Fox Glacier to Mt Cook is 6-8 hours... We're so glad that we had the time to make the drive (split it up with a night in Haast) and also spent enough time in the area to wait out the weather. It was cloudy and rainy when we first arrived and the mountain ... read more

From the Banks Peninsular we veered inland towards the brilliant turquoise, Lake Tekapo. Driving across a highland plateau, similar to those we experienced in China, heightened the anticipation as we glimpsed the milky blue expanse of water, given it's colour through sediment created when the lake's basin was gouged out by an advancing glacier. With the sun beaming down and refracting the lake's sediment filled water, our eyes could barely cope. The camera was working overtime as we rolled into town and admired the diminutive, old Church of the Good Shepherd that sat on the lakeside. The old stone building is admired by many and used as a wedding photography spot by all the rest. It was a beautifully hot day, the blue sky matching the lake, in our alpine surounds. Green contoured hills circled us ... read more

Another four hour bus ride brings me to Lake Tekapo. After checking in to the hostel, I head out for a hike up Mount John to the observatory. Up. And up. It was a steep climb (had to be more than a 10% grade for good stretches), but I finally reached the top. Great views of the surroundings and there were two small scopes that they brought out to view the sun and Mount Cook. I had planned on coming back later that night for a night sky tour, but unfortunately the sky clouded over so it was cancelled. Oh well...these things happen. The next day I'm on a bus to Mount Cook. The plan is to do a short four-hour hike along the Hooker Valley trail for some close up views of Mount Cook (Aoraki ... read more

Hello all, this update comes after a couple of unforgettable days at the Mount Cook National Park. Despite the many photos and detailed accounts of friends who have traveled to New Zealand before, I am always amazed by how stunning the landscape continues to be. Words do little justice to this place, so be sure to be checking out Chad and Nick's blog for pictures (links on my page). Mount Cook is the largest mountain in a stretch of towering giants that weave into a deep valley; truly all roads stop there. This region has such beauty that I have difficulty imagining what can possibly top this place in the next months. We had a long, steep, uphill climb to reach the Mueller Hut through freezing rain and 90 km/h wind gusts; cold as hell. Once ... read more