Mount Cook (June 11)

We woke to heavy rain and as the clouds lifted we could see snow on the surrounding hills, even on Mt John where we hiked yesterday. Despite the rain we decide to head up to Mount Cook knowing that we might not see the Mountain but we will get to see snow. Just as we are packing up the power in Lake Tekapo goes out and we are unable to even fuel up the car. We decide to drive to Twizel, just past the turn off to Mt Cook so that we can get gas and a cup of coffee at one of the cafes. It is a short drive and despite the cloud we still have pretty good views. In Twizel Bree runs into two girls that she met on the ferry and they have a quick play in the playground before the rain starts again.

To get to Mount Cook you turn off of the main highway and drive along the west side of Lake Pukaki, which is even larger than Lake Tekapo. The Mt Cook village is fairly small and because it is off season we are able to get a very nice room in the Hermitage Hotel with spectacular views of Aoraki National Park. Attached to the hotel is the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre which houses a museum and a 3D theatre and Planetarium. Unfortunately when we arrive the cloud cover is still low and there ground is covered in very wet snow but by the early afternoon the clouds lift and we finally get a glimpse of Mt Cook. At 3754m high Aoraki or Mt Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand. It is part of the Southern Alps which host a range of impressive mountains. From our view at the hotel we can see out towards the Mueller glacier but due to the very wet and icy snow covered ground we decide not to walk out to it. Instead we decide to enjoy the benefits of a fancy hotel and we buy a pass to the many movies and planetarium features that are held throughout the day. We watch the 3D movie called Mount Cook Magic and then take in the Space Traveller, Black Holes and Space Opera in the planetarium. Russ went to the feature film titled Hillary on Everest while Bree finally got to enjoy sometime in the bathtub (something we rarely get in holiday park accommodation). In the evening we all went to the Panorama restaurant for a “fancy” dinner out.

Today we woke to a beautiful view of Mt Cook and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast before the clouds again moved in. We decided to head over to Wanaka for a night or two and headed out onto the road again around noon. By chance we stopped in Tarras for a bite to eat and ended up at the Shrek museum. Shrek was a merino sheep that got lost and lived on his own for 6 years before he was found. The fleece on him was impressive! Shrek became famous and has toured around New Zealand helping raise money for charity. Sadly Shrek passed away this week at 17 years of age.

The entire drive from Mount Cook to Wanaka was spectacular. This is definitely New Zealand hill country with the open grasslands covered in Merino sheep and herds of beef cattle. Even though winter is on the way in the animals are all still out grazing. We are trying to arrange to visit an Icebreaker sheep station somewhere in this area and I look forward to learning more about grazing sheep in this environment. To me the land here looks much more like Kamloops and the continental climate is more similar to what I am used to. I feel very at home in this Central Otago region and could easily spend more time here but as our trip is coming to an end soon we have to move on.