Our final day!

 A cold night and a very cold morning, but it was worth it to wake up to the sunrise on the mountains and the sound of distant avalanches. 

We couldn't wait for the sun's rays to reach our camp, so we headed back over the extraordinary swing bridges. We enjoyed working out where on the mountain face in front of us we had walked up to Mueller's hut 2 days before. 

By the time we were back to the car we changed from 4 layers to 1 and enjoyed brunch in hot sunshine on the balcony of the Hermitage hotel. A nice touch of glamping. 

Sadly we said farewell to the majesty of the mountains and our time together there. We kept looking in our rear-view mirrors so we could feel like we were still there.

Unexpectedly the glacial waters of Lake Pukaki was absolutely gorgeous in the bright sunshine and we stopped at 4 lookouts to get different views. 

The water was just as spectacular at Lake Tekapo and the Church of the Good Shepherd. 

Then a long uninteresting drive to Christchurch for our final dinner and pack before we wake up at 330am!

As Isaac and I took off at the end of our trip 5 years ago I listened to 'O praise the name of the Lord our God'. As the same song played in the car today, tears of happiness and sadness and thankfulness welled up again. 

Such a wonderful time in a majestic part of God's creation, but so special to spend it with my beautiful daughter, Bethany. 

5 walks on 1 fabulous day

I woke up to a glorious sight - the top of the mountains without clouds and with the sun slowly coming down from the top. Not knowing how long the clear sky would last I got Bethany up as soon as she stirred.

We had planned just to walk to Mueller's Hut and to Hooker's Hut over our two days, but now that we were back at ground level and with beutiful weather, we googled 'top ten walks at Mt Cook'. We'd already done the top 2 (Muellers Hut and Sealy Tarns), so we only did 5 more today! 

1. Blue lakes walk - sadly the small pools are no longer blue as the glacier which fed them has shrunk. Compared to everything else we've experienced, a disappointing walk.

2. Tasman glacier view walk - a relatively short uphill climb to an extraordinary view of the glacier, the lake and Mount Cook. The glacier used to be so much larger but the lake is still massive. Plus there are icebergs! The kayak tour far below helped us get a sense of the size of everything (2nd picture, bottom right). 

We liked 'The armchair'

3. Governors bush track- we took this track by mistake but enjoyed the change of scene - well-shaded, almost rainforest. 

4. Red Tarns track - a hard climb up, though it was less than half of the walk to Mueller's hut, and this time we didn't have heavy packs. Great views from the top. From the top we learnt that what we had thought was Mt Cook (far right) was actually Mount Sefton (left)! Whoops!

(After these walks we enjoyed a drink on the balcony of the cafe at the upmarket Hermitage Hotel - still with a glorious view of the mountains)

5. Hooker Valley track - fabulous, mostly flat walk with 3 massive swing bridges and a constant view of Mt Cook. 

A memorial to the many mountain climbers who have died here. 

 

After we got to the end and saw Lake Hooker, we backtracked and took the turn off to Hooker Hut. 

A walk through the reeds and along a creek and we were stunned to discover the beauty of the hut, with a superb view of Mt Cook. Even the loo had a view! 

A short walk to collect water from the stream ... 

... noodles for dinner ...

... before we spent the night star gazing at the milky way. 

 Bethany: 'I had the best day, with you, today!'

Mt Cook National Park: Mueller's Hut

An excited journey to Mt Cook, especially as we got closer and saw the snow-capped mountain range. 

But we were also nervous - the forecast for our overnight walk to Mueller's Hut (elevation 1800m) included 50km winds and sub-zero temperatures, which might mean we wouldn't be able to go. Happily the forecast at the visitor centre had improved, so we headed up the 2200 steps to Sealy Tarns in strong sunshine. We were constantly blown away by the views. 

But the first half was the easy bit, now we began the steeper climb and soon the path gave way to scrambling over rocks guided by orange poles. Thankfully the way wasn't obscured by cloud as it sometimes is, but it was still pretty sketchy and more than a little scary - which is why there aren't any photos of this part!

By the time we got near the top it was quite cold and had begun to rain but we pressed on until finally we rounded the corner and saw the red Mueller's Hut in the distance. A brief stop at a pond of snow before we wearily mounted the steps to the hut. 

Our first time in an Alpine hut - an entrance room for your gear and to take off your boots, 1 bunk room with 28 mattresses, a basic kitchen with gas burners and benchtops; the water tanks were outside and the water needed to be boiled; the drop toilet was outside. 

After a quick bite to eat and a chat with those staying i the hut, we set about trying to pitch our tents outside in the lush camp ground you can see out the window above, supposedly before the wind set in. Previous campers had made little rock walls to provide some respite from the wind. Unfortunately, the wind had already picked up and the air was freezing cold, and our experience and our tents were not really up to the task, especially since there wasn't any soil to put pegs into! Reluctantly we decided we couldn't camp there. Only 1 other person was camping that night, and she had been trekking through New Zealand for the last 122 days! 

We waited to see if there might be a cancellation for the hut but at 4:30pm we had to head back down the mountain to avoid walking in the dark. A disappointing outcome! 

A long and sometimes precarious walk back with our packs and we finally arrived at the campground at the foot of the mountain about 8:00 p.m. A fantastic day unlike any other, though it would have been much easy to do it without carrying all our camping gear!

Queenstown and Wanaka

Shaun joined Bethany and Danielle in Queenstown for a magical 17 hours before Danielle flew home. Flying through the mountain range with a window seat had been a great introduction the night before, but a scrumptious breakfast on the deck of the Boatshed cafe was even better. 

Then a walk to the almost deserted Bob's Cove combined with a swim for Bethany in the crystal clear water. 

  

Then our 17 hours together came to an end as we said a very sad farewell to Danielle. 

Shaun and Bethany visited Wanaka for a swim on a glorious afternoon.

  

(NB: a few days before Bethany had climbed 1000m to Roy's Peak - the summit on the left)

We ended the day by driving on to our accomodation in Twizel, but unless we missed it there's not much to say about Twizel - its just the closest place to stay when the accomodation in Mt Cook is booked out.