Finally, Mount Cook

The trip to Wanaka ended up being very short as the weather did not cooperate once again. We stayed one night in a campground and were happy to feel warmth in the kitchen!! Around twenty people were there for dinner time and we enjoyed a nice meal. Shortly after though, it started to feel cold again as everybody left and we went to bed in our van, with another freezing temperature (-8 oc). The bright cloudless sky at night probably had something to do with it but it was a totally different scenario the next morning. We couldn't see the beautiful mountains around the area and were very disappointed. Dana and I had decided to first do a little hike up a path in the mountain, then go to a puzzle museum which had enigmas for adults to solve and then possibly go to a local brewery. The first plan quickly died, the museum had doubled its price in a year and the brewery was only open in the afternoon... That's when we decided to just keep on going and skip Wanaka, similar to Queenstown but less touristy. We drove with the intention of reaching Mount Cook, if mother nature would only let us see it!!!

We crossed the Lindis pass to get there, which is pretty high betwwen the mountains and was closed the first time we drove in the area. It can be very icy and it is recommended to drive with chains on the wheels at times. We finally arrived in the area and caught a glimpse of Mt. Cook. Just behind Lake Pukeki, it was quite a pretty sight. We then drove the last 56 km and arrived on a long patch of ice. It was still early enough to do a little hike and although we didn't have any boots, we walked about 50 minutes in the white snow to reach the moraine of a glacier (just in front of Mt. Cook). We took a few pictures and walked back to our van. We finally enjoyed a night with the temperature over 0 oc and it even started to rain! In the morning, a lot of snow melt, bringing ice to the surface. I managed to get out of my parking space but got caught (once again) a bit further trying to keep the momentum going. The wheels wouldn't stop spinning and it was a mess to try to push the van in the rain. It took more than an hour to find someone willing to help and push us back onto the road. Later on our way out, the van started to lose power and the fuel needle dropped noticeably. We couldn't believe it, everything was going wrong that morning and in that area in general. But once we reached the closest town (Twizel) and brought it to a mechanic, we were told that the bad weather was probably the cause of the problem. Relieved but still skeptical about the van, we headed towards Mount Somers, about an hour and a half before Christchurch.

Photos coming later...

here they are:

just before the Lindis pass

Lake Pukaki with Mount Cook in the background
beautifull chain of mountains
road where we got stuck the first time around
Mount Cook!
Dana and I in front of the glacier and Mt. Cook

Church of the lonely sheppherd, on the way out of Mt. Cook