Blogs from Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 12

NZ Day 13 Dunedin to Aoraki (Mt. Cook) So we had to leave Dunedin sometime….but why did it have to be so soon. I woke up early to say goodbye to my Uncle Cliff and my cousin Ben before they went to work and school. Then I had a second cup of tea with Pip, Ryan and Rhys after I had packed up all my stuff and put it in the car. It was so nice to stop and have a break from traveling with a real family. It was good to see my cousins and I feel like we are growing closer. I feel like I was the closest to my aunt that I have ever been and it was awesome. She is so cool! When Sarah and I finally hit the road it ... read more

Wow, what a winter wonderland we awoke to see! Gregg got up and took pictures of the sun rising over Mount Cook and the beautiful snow. The boys spent the morning playing with Harry and having snowball fights. We made a big breakfast at the Alpine Lodge before heading up to the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre and out hiking. At the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre we viewed a 3D movie on Mount Cook from the Maori perspective and saw a planetarium show of the Southern Hemisphere sky. Which is very different than the Northern Hemisphere! After that we were ready to hit the Kea Point trail. It was a little less than an hour hike each way and not too strenuous. But with the snow, as you can see from the pictures, it was ... read more

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 ... read more

Apres Christchurch, on est parti explorer un peu plus le sud de la NZ. Direction le Mt Cook ou Aoraki comme les Maoris l'appellent. Le Mont Cook est une montagne superbe toujours couverte d'une couche de glace et entouree de glaciers, lacs et collines. 3 jours de relaxation et de marche dans les montagnes et les vallees. Genial! After Christchurch, we went to explre a bit more in the South of NZ and went to Mt Cook or Aoraki as the Maoris call it. It's a magnificent mountain alwaya with snow at the top. So for 3 days, all we did was walk and relax in the mountains and valleys.... read more

We have spent 2 days in a youth hostel at the foot of Mount Cook. The mountain is spectacular, and the surroundings pretty breath taking. We have walked a bit, but the most interesting thing was a boat ride on the lake at the end of the Tasman glacier - the longest in NZ at 27 km. There we sailed about amidst broken off bits of glacier, icebergs really. But because they are in fresh water, you only see one tenth instead of a third of them. Now and then they tip over, and you get to see a clean bit, instead of the top which is pretty grubby. One actually split just when we'd gone by, and was astonishingly blue in the middle. Another was full of bits of rock it had scoured from the ... read more