Finally… Mt Cook

Nearly two years in and I still haven’t seen you with my own eyes, the famous Aoraki was just a fridge magnet holding up my recipes and endless images being shared through various Instagram profiles. It was time! Robbie’s parents had come all the way from sunny Stratford upon Avon to visit us and they wanted to cram as much in as possible. Pretty sure with the experiences and amount of leaflets Big G took home they could start their own booking agent.

After an amazing long weekend in The Catlins we all decided that it would be great to get away for their last week somewhere a little different. Mt Cook, it had to be Mt Cook. Is there anything more iconic in the South Island than Mt Cook national park? I layed out my case to the other three travellers and before I knew it we were booked, packed and on the road toward Twizel. Coffee in hand and a long drive ahead I was gifted the front seat and entrusted to not fall asleep.

We drove straight to Mt Cook, only a quick stop for some petrol and we were on the famous winding road towards the village. The road has plenty of viewpoints however I was far to excited so decided to leave these for the way back. We drove down the road for about 40 mins, following a Britz camper the whole way, they were driving slow but I didn’t care, It gave me time to take photos from the car & get all emotional at the first sight of the mountain. I don’t know what it was, maybe I was tired maybe I was being a big girl but as soon as I saw Mt Cook I got teary eyed, it is so beautiful.

We had a great tour of the car park until we finally found a space, Saturday proved to be a busy day on the Hooker Valley track! We watched Graham apply suncream which is an event in itself, wolfed down some food and headed for the track. The time states 2-3 hours return which we could of completed a lot quicker were it not for the amount of people and my desire to take a photograph with every footstep.

Mt Cook is a place that everyone should try and visit in New Zealand, I cant believe it took me so long to get there. It is the highest mountain in New Zealand standing 3724 metres high! It sits in the Southern Alps, the mountain range runs the whole length of the South Island, pretty impressive!

After driving for over three hours everyone was ready to stretch their legs. I was plesently surprised at how easy the track was. No inclines, plenty of room and enough swing bridges to keep you & your acrophobia busy. The sun was beating down, it was so hot & I had decided to wear a hat and a woolly shirt. After a few outfit changes and fully looking like Dora the explorer complete with two cameras hanging from my neck it was time to crack on.

Mt Cook comes in and out of view on the track and when you get to the wooden walkway get ready to have your socks blown off, right there in all its glory is the biggest mountain in New Zealand, Edmund Hillarys best friend and soon to be plastered all over my Instagram feed. We enjoyed the view, marvelled at the icebergs still floating around in the lake and listened to the faint sound of avalanches somewhere in the distance.

I didn’t want to leave, I could of stayed there all day staring at the mountains, but I was hungry and Robbie had beer to drink. Back in the car and taking advantage of being on the right side of the road for the lay by’s we stopped to take the iconic photo to rival my fridge magnet from Peters look out. I found this awesome little house for the night complete with the biggest bed known to man and a hot tub, we were set. Yvette was again cooking up a delicious dinner while we took advantage of the tub in our million star hotel. I have never ever ever in my life seen that many stars. Twizel has very little light pollution so viewing the milky way is just perfect from here.

We visited Lake Tekapo on the route home (well kind of, we drove the other way) but again somewhere everyone should try and see. The lake is a beautiful blue and the town is small enough to walk round with a coffee and off you go.

 

We were soon driving home along the Lindis pass from one of the best adventures I have had in NZ with a very happy heart and a satisfied soul.