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Published: April 25th 2012
Dunedin
Dawn, Anzac DayWell the show has moved on and Crowded House packed up and we set out on Sunday 22nd for Mt Cook. After replenishing the stores and using the dump station and refueling at Lake Tekapo we headed north west along the stunning Lake Pukaki which, along with 2 other major lakes in the centre of this area produces hydro electricity. The roads are so good in this part of NZ that it is hard not to speed and we enjoyed great lengths of time with not anotrher car in sight. It is now fairly quiet tourist wise and we have had no trouble getting in any parks.
The weather is beautiful, warm during the day but very cold at night and we now have the extra blanket and heater on at night.
Approaching Mt Cook was a joy all in itself.
The drive along Lake Pukaki was beautiful, a lovely wide smooth road and not much traffic on Sunday morning early. We had the Southern Alps on our side all the way and the peaks were covered in snow. The air crisp & clear with perefect blue sky! We are going to pay for this soon.............
Booked into a working sheep farm (station?) at the base of Mt Cook National Park called Glentanner Park. Had the place mostly to ourselves. Has a nice park with all amenities and a stunning view of snow clad Mt Cook. Naturally the night was very cold but the heater in Crowded House worked fine.
Next day we walked up to the Tasman Glacier and although we "puffed" a bit it was worth the effort. Actually stood on the top of the ancient moraine and gazed down onto the glacier surface. Amazing!
Mt Cook and it's snow clad peaks around was a constant attraction of course and we couldn't but help enjoy sitting out in a cafe in our T shirts and (wish had brought shorts!) having a coffee under the foot of the mountain. Everyone here is remarking on the warm weather and we are now in our 7th day since picking up the van that we have had perfectly warm daytime conditions.
From Mt Cook we have progressed on down thru Omarama, a sheep town which has beautiful woolen clothing for sale (not in our price bracket!) and had lunch in the van by the glider
airfield in a picturesque paddock.
Further south east we stopped for the night at a little farm stay, Kelceys Animal Park where we were the only ones staying for the night and had the place to ourselves. Mary "did" the animal tour next morning with the owner whille I got the van ready for the next day on the road.
The animal farm lies just outside the town of Waimate where we refuelled and stocked up at the local "New World" supermart and then headed off down Route1 south towards Dunedin, our destination for the night.
Enroute we stopped at a little town called Hampden where we were told by a local that the best Fish & Chips were. We managed to jag it right on lunch time and called in to "Lockies F&C" for the best ever feed of local Blue Groper we have ever tasted. After that we walked down on the beach to see the much celebrated Moeraki Boulders which are a local tourist attraction.......mmmm..not sure!! A few spherical rocks slowly disappearing in the sand and sadly cracking up...still. lots of tourists stop here for the Maori legend and take photos of themselves standing
on them....including us!
We are now in the beautiful city of Dunedin. Running out of blog time so will leave this for another day....so much has happened today that we can't keep up.
Below are a few pics (hard to pick which ones out of hundreds so far) of the journey from Mt Cook.
see ya
A&M
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Rosemary & Geoff
non-member comment
So pleased weather is being so kind to you, keep up the good work re blog entries, great seeing it thru your eyes! Hard to imagine such beautiful scenery from what other people tell you, now you reallise why everyone wants to see for themselves! We loved the trip to queens town a couple of years ago but still have lots to see. I think the best way is the way you are doing it, in a camper an. Crowded House or not!!!