AORAKI / MOUNT COOK

AORAKI/MOUNT COOK (April 15-16, 2012)

Leaving Queenstown the following morning, this time we traveled N.E. across the Canterbury Plains with our destination for the day Aoraki/Mount Cook. 

We stopped in several towns along the way including Cromwell (farms and orchards), Omarama (merino sheep), and Twizel (hydroelectric power station). Sights included Lindis Pass and Lake Pukaki, (part of the Waitaki hydroelectric scheme; largest of the three alpine lake in the area). It was such a beautiful drive with rolling hills, leaves on trees changing colours and bright blue lakes.

Nothing says "Welcome to Cromwell" like huge pieces of fruit & veg!

Kiwi traffic jam

Mount Cook in the distance from Peter's Lookout

Lake Pukaki - a bit blurry but I love the colours in this photo

We were pleasantly surprised to find our accommodation for the evening so close to so many walks around Mount Cook. Next door to the lodge where we were staying at was the Edmund Hillary Heritage Centre where you can learn more about Mount Cook and watch some neat movies. Some people bought tickets to go in and check it all out but we decided to keep it cheap and just do the free walks.

Once we got set-up in our room, a bunch of us did a short walk out to Kea Point. It was only about an hour and a half walk there and back and pretty easy. We spent some time at the Point to take in the views of Mount Cook (the tallest mountain in New Zealand measuring at just over 3,570m) and of course photos.

View from Kea Point

A photo with Mount Cook in the background

The following morning we did another short walk past the Blue Lakes and out to the base of the Tasman Glacier. Reading a bit about it, we were looking forward to the walk. But once we got out there we weren’t too wow-ed. The colours weren’t anything compared to what we saw along the West Coast or on the way here and the icebergs only looked like small pieces of ice floating in the lake below. We were still thankful to be able to do the walk though.

Blue Lakes, which actually look more green these days

Base of Tasman Glacier

Little icebergs in behind us

 Shortly after everyone got back from the walk, we continued our travels across the Canterbury Plains. We made a short stop at the infamous Church of the Good Shepherd for a photo op. This church is quite well-known and used for countless weddings throughout the year because of the stunning surroundings.

Church of the Good Shepherd

We made another stop in Geraldine for a fuel-up and food recharge. Then just another hour or so down the road was the destination for the evening, Rangitata. Christchurch used to be the next stop in the Stray itinerary but because of the earthquakes, they have since changed it to Rangitata. It was another pretty remote place with only rafting to offer for activities. Because we already did some rafting in Rotorua we decided to pass.

And actually later on the in the day we found out that the rafting company/accommodation providers in Rangitata was offering to take some people into Christchurch if they didn’t want to stay there for the evening. Because we already made plans to base ourselves in Christchurch for a while and find work, we took them up on the offer, along with eight other people.

Sadly our main traveling throughout New Zealand was coming to an end but we were also looking forward to diving into the Kiwi culture and lifestyle a bit more and very importantly, replenishing the travel funds!