This
morning we headed to Mt Cook. The drive was
very pretty. We travelled
around some lovely blue lakes, and through more sheep country with the snow
capped mountains drawing ever nearer.
Our
plan was to visit the Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre, do one of the short walks
to a lookout and then perhaps play in the snow for a bit.
Well
2 out of 3 is not a bad average for the day.
On
our arrival we very quickly realized that you do not go up the mountain at all,
silly us. 🤣. So no snow play was going to be had. The area is
very rocky, and totally suited for hikers and climbers, not snow fun at
all. I must do a
little more research next time. Oh
well.
The
Edmund Hillary Museum was very interesting. We wandered
for a bit and then watched one of the many videos that show parts of his life.
I wanted to steal some of the journals that were very wisely protected in
locked cabinets. 😞
Next
we headed to the camping ground where our walk was to start.
Grabbed
our lunch. Met a lovely
lady named Hanna. She was
originally from the Chech Republic, but has lived in Hawaii for the past 30
years. She is
currently traveling NZ with one of her daughters. They are both
camped at the grounds at the bottom of the mountain. She told us
that daughter had gone off for a hike, and may or may not return today 😱. I would never be as calm as she was if one of
my kids went off wandering like that - and I knew about it. It was lovely
to chat with her. We finished
our lunch and headed off.
The
walk to Kea Point was not too bad. About an hour
each way. The path only
had 2 climbing areas, was mainly gravel, with the odd area of larger
rocks. The view at
the end was pretty cool. The Mueller Glacier moraine wall was interesting to
see, as was the snow on the top of mountain ahead of us. We could see
where the snow was starting to crack, we waited a
bit to see if it would break away, but I think it is like waiting for paint to
dry.
Back
to the car park, said farewell to Hanna, and then made our way back to Lake
Tekapo for a rest and getting organized for our trip tomorrow.
Robbie
did have to put fuel in the car today, we were concerned about the cost,
because the cost of petroleum here is simply horrendous. $2.60pl for
the equivalent of E10. He was shocked
it only cost us $65 to fill up, I suppose we are used to filling our car at
home, which has a 2x90l tanks.
Things
I learned today
-
do more homework regarding the area I am visiting.
- one way bridges don’t have
large give way signs, they have a large arrow and a small arrow. If the large arrow is pointing
in the direction you are going, you have right of way, if the small arrow
is going in your direction you wait.
- They don’t use “no through
road” signs - they use “no exit”.
- Not all public toilets are
free.
Tomorrow
we head back to the coast and continue our southward journey.
Take
care and catch you then.
Robbie
and Liz.
Comments
Post a Comment