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.

Australian Open 2022 - Our Story is here

We'd talked about it for many years - going to Melbourne for the tennis. Finally it was here. 

Hamish, Elijah and I flew down with Rex for the first time - basic but smooth flight, and they even threw in a packet of biscuits. Our first Didi trip too - with a driver who spent 2/3 of the trip complaining about how little he gets after all his costs. We wondered whether he had the same conversation every trip!

We arrived at our Airbnb and eventually managed to overcome the geocache-like key finding procedure. 

Our flat was in a great location in the north of the city, 29th floor out of 52, adequate inside except for the lack of hot water which didn't actually get fixed during our week-long stay. 

We came for the tennis and we certainly saw plenty of it. 

3 full days starting at 11am and finishing sometime between 10 and 11pm; plus an extra night. All up we saw 18 different matches. Most memorable were the matches with Aussies when the crowd went wild, especially on our third night when Aussie players (Popyrin & De Minaur) won both matches. 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/nj1fkjBboDMLnRXE9

The only disappointment - we'd been looking forward to our reserved seats in Margaret Court Arena on the third day, but when we arrived that day I realised that I had actually bought them for the day before and had only used them as ground passes. Thankfully there were great matches to see on the other courts on both days. 

What did we do the rest of the time? Some highlights:

Morning runs (Shaun and sometimes with Elijah) to Carlton Gardens, Fitzroy Gardens and the Botanical gardens 

Botanical gardens together on our last day

Australian Centre for the Moving Image - a fabulous exhibition on the history of film, including a story-boarding pitch for a scene from Shrek:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/cWM6y8YoSPNdt9ym6

and a story creator with famous movie clips

https://photos.app.goo.gl/XrV2Q5Xs3jiCAjvi9

Also, Hamish and I saw 'Friends & Strangers', a typically quirky Australian movie parodying modern responses to the history of white treatment of Indigenous people. 

Old Melbourne Gaol - a very well-presented history of a jail based on the idea that some people (unlike the rest of us) are born criminals and can be reformed through isolation and abuse. 

Plus a spell in the watch house where we'd been 'arrested' - in particular Elijah for 'drunk and disorderly.'  

Chinese New Year celebrations

The Shrine of Remembrance

What a joy to spend a week with two of my precious boys - something I realise even more now after my dad's recent death.