Blogs from Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 7

Christmas morning started off as early Christmas should: early, drinking white hot chocalote, eating danish bisquits, and reading the Christmas Story! Today we drove to Mount Cook, and took many pictures and videos of the beautiful Mackequenzie Valley and Basin we were driving through. After lunch we started off on a 4 hour hike in the Hooker valley just below Mount Cook, armed with the Droid and the Sony PCM Recorder for some off the track recordings. We also got the chance to play our new instruments at the glacier lake by Mount Cook! It was quite fantastic. The lodge had a Christmas Feast tonight, and we gladly partook after our big day of hikinng. Until tomorrow's Adventures... **** Since it is Christmas, where we celebrate the Birth of Christ, I thought you all might be ... read more

We arrived in Tekapo around mid morning after a lovely journey through the countryside. Lake Tekapo is a turquoise glacial lake reflecting the surrounding mountains and right by the lake edge is the simple Church of the Good Shepherd, built in stone and oak. The church was built in 1935 as a memorial to the pioneers of the Mackenzie Country and services are still held on a regular basis. Because of the picturesque setting with views of the mountains through the altar window the church has become a popular wedding location for tourist particularly those from Japan and whilst we were there a wedding party did indeed arrive. We had a chat with the local custodian of the church and he said that they had two weddings scheduled that day and quite a few during the ... read more

A place like New Zealand is best described in poetry. Anywhere you turn is simply poetic. It’s wonderful scenery is awe-inspiring, uplifting and stunningly breathtaking. Although I can’t write a poem to save my life, it’s worth a damn try. I planned this trip 6 months ahead, I can’t belief it now eventuates, I searched the internet for pictures and info, And now the actual trip feels like a déjà vu. Green rolling hills I think I’ve seen before, But the beauty of it runs kilometers and more, Mountains and valleys, blue lakes and snow, When all put together, It’s magic, that I know for sure. We arrived in this land in the start of Spring Oh how amazing when birds start to sing, Trees awaken with new shoots and buds, In green grass I tread, ... read more

After Dunedin, I went on my way to Mount Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand at 3755 metres. On the way, I stopped at the "clay cliffs", some impressive cliffs that are actually situated on private property. Mount Cook is reached via a road along a big lake and through some amazing mountain scenery. The village itself is, like Milford Sound, just a couple of houses and hotels where people live to accommodate for the tourists. Most of the time, Mount Cook is covered in clouds, and this was also the case when I arrived. I booked a morning tour to the Tasman Glacier (yes, Dutch sea farer Abel Tasman was named after many things in NZ!), which is, I think, the biggest glacier in New Zealand. It was a nice 18-20 degrees when we ... read more

Whilst Billy went to pick up the car (in Christchurch), I was left to pack the tent! Fortunately it was not raining and, despite being in Fiji for 2 weeks and not camping, I had remembered the knack of packing. What a pleasure it was to see the sun. Now I know we had just returned from a 2 week stint in the sun, but I was expecting it to rain in New Zealand. But so far so good. We had a three and a half hour journey ahead of us, and once Billy returned with our trusty Toyota Corolla, we hit the road. We passed through mainly farms and there were plenty of sheep along the way. And slowly we started to see the beginnings of the Mount Cook range (part of the Southern ... read more