Blogs from Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 9

So onto our last trip of what has turned out to be one great experience and one hell of a place to visit. New Zealand has been a joy to see and with the aid of a fantastic group of people to experiance it with, has been a highlight of my jorney so far. We left Queenstown for a 5 hour road trip towards the Sothern Alps of New Zealand. Again passing rolling hills and finally in the distance the summit of Mt Cook was before us, but still another hours drive before we arrive. The lake that looked like it was not real Then to my right was yet another amazing sight that New Zealand was to throw at us. In the centre of the South Island of New Zealand lies Lake Tekapo. This highland ... read more

26/3/09 = Day 8: An easier ride back to Twisel Still aching when woke up today. In fact, if anything, aching only got worse. Hobbled off to breakfast unable to bend legs and not at all exited for porridge after horrible porridge experience up mountain. Added lots of cinnamon and ginger just to make it taste different; was o.k. Got changed then, packed up and set off at 9:20. Lord knows how I was going to bike when I couldn’t even walk properly! Dreading ride anyway because found it so tough on way here. Another really sunny and blue day. Find it v.strange that best weather have had in NZ is when have been up in snowy mountains. Ride actually started off o.k….actually quite…nice! Was flat and even a little downhill; figures, since the reverse of ... read more

25/3/09 = Descent down Mt Cook A v.strange nights sleep. Cold when got into bed and feet freezing. Huddled under 2 borrowed blankets, my pashmina and a wire-wool blanket and even though did get warmer, definitely didn’t get warm. Woke every hour with pain of bones digging through wafer thin, plastic mattress and into wood below. Had to rotate at regular intervals, a lot like camping without an air-bed. Every time did wake up, took another look at stars before did go back to sleep = probably why I didn’t find it so bad. Followed that routine until 7am, when everyone started to get up for sunrise. Some people had got up early and we were late in comparison. Deb nudged me to alert me of this at 7:15 and v.reluctantly dragged self out of warm(ish) ... read more

23rd March 2009 - THE RIDE TO MOUNT COOK VILLAGE.....UP, UP AND UP!!! I woke up early again...think my body clock is set to 7am these days! It was lovely and warm under my covers though and so I stayed there until 8am dozing on and off! I then got up, washed and had breakfast before getting myself ready for the cycle to Mount Cook Village. I was not in a good frame of mind this morning and I did not want to cycle at all. For some reason I felt nervous which is silly but then I am a bit silly sometimes!! I had no choice in the matter anyway and so I packed my panniers up (getting fuller and heavier by the day) and once we were both ready we set off on the ... read more

Mount Cook Next on the hit list was the highest peak in Australasia, Aoraki (cloud piercer) or Mount Cook. Without mountaineering experience we knew the summit was a no go so we intended to do some walking at the base. On route, we stopped at Lake Tekapo for photos of the charming little Church of the Good Shepherd set amongst the turquoise waters of the lake. What was not so charming were the ranks of tour buses and cars parked outside it, the occupants of these vehicles obviously having the same idea as us! It was a glorious sunny day and shortly after leaving Lake Tekapo we saw Mount Cook, standing tall in the distance. We had fantastic views of it from over Lake Pukaki. Little did we know, but this was to be our only ... read more