500 km and 6 days, is what separated us from Peel forest and Te Anau, our next planned adventure in the form of the The Milford track and the whether was looking like a mixed bag.
The weather was looking good for a day at Mt Cook and we couldn't resist a view of 'The Cloud Piercer', so headed along a very scenic road, which traversed the shores of Lake Pukaki towards the seamlessly increasing lump of Mt Cook.
$20 brought us a campspot at the end of the road with a 360 degree mountain vista; Mt Wakefield, Mt Oliver, Mt Cook and Mt Sefton, cocooned us with an alpine evening glow from their glaciers, ridges and summit.
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| Mount Cook |
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| Mt Cook |
A startling alarm clock woke us early with the rumbling and crashes of the steep icefall from the Tuckett Glacier, below Mt Sefton. With the illusion of being able to reach out and touch the cascading snow and ice, gave us a 10 by 3 kilometre TV screen as we sat, cooked and ate breakfast.
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| Alarm clock, in the form of Mt Sefton Icefall |
We had a forecast of one fine day, turning into 100kph winds and rain for two days, and after researching most of the classic two day trips from the village we managed to settle on two different day walks. Lucy went for a pleasant walk to Kea view point and the Hooker Glacier viewing area, spotting ice bergs, Mount Cook Buttercups and bouncing on suspension bridges. I must have picked the shorter straw and went for the endless staircase up to The Mueller hut, but managed a traverse of the fake summit of Mount Oliver, needless to say we both had amazing views and spent ten minutes showcasing our photos to each other.
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| Iceberg |
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| Swing bridge |
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| Mt Oliver ridge |
So with the weather turning, we decided to head to Wanaka and see what we could find to entertain us for the next couple of days, and we found a bit more than a couple of days worth of entertainment...
Wanaka was described to us before we left the UK as having the "Wild West sorta' feeling", but when we rocked up and into a hot tub at the Mount Aspiring holiday park, we lost any wild west expectations. Googling, skimming lonely planet and a long browse through the mountaineering guide book, raised the expectation of the chilled out, lake side town to a new level and we seemed to be bombarded with single and multi day trips, but of course the weather and maybe the hot tub and sauna dictated our days. Two days chilling and exploring the town and one day hiking up a steep slope with ever expanding views. Managing to ascend the height of the UKs highest mountain, Ben Nevis without even reaching the summit of the very impressive looking and aptly named Shark Tooth Peak, but decided to call it a day at 1,685m and head for the tub...
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| Wanaka Frisbee golf |
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| Mt RobRoy |
Unlike Queenstown, it looks like Wanaka is going to leave a burning desire to return and explore the hidden and not so hidden adventures in the area, with a list that's already too long, we'll have to make sure our next time here is a lot longer than we first considered.
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| Wanaka tree |
