Lake Tekapo & Mt Cook

Hello all!

Yes, I realise it's been over a week since I last wrote this, and I didn't mean to forget, I really didn't! I've had some lazy days and some busy days and most of those I didn't have internet access... so here goes!

Geraldine - Lake Tekapo

When I left Geraldine, the sun was still shining. I'd had some Dairy-Free Apple sorbet from a wee shop there and eaten it while basking in the heat. Still have sensitive teeth so maybe it wasn't the most brilliant of ideas I've had. The bus was cool (air conditioning all the way as usual) but by the time I got to Lake Tekapo, only an hour later, it was getting windy. It was a 1km haul along a track to my backpackers and then I had to wait an hour to check in. Bus arrived 45 minutes early – don't trust the Naked Bus arrival times, they're never exact! On getting to my room, I discovered I thankfully had a lower bunk bed and met my roomie for the night – Sabine. She and I are actually meeting up again in Christchurch soon! As it was only around 3pm, I still had time for a walk and decided to walk up nearby Mt John (1031m). Sabine suggested I take the long route up: walking to the end of the peninsula, and then taking a not so steep gradient up the hill to the Observatory. I'm glad she did suggest it as, once I'd got around the corner and was almost at the top, the clouds started to roll in obstructing my view. Lake Tekapo is a glacier lake, and it's water is literally sky blue. It's caused by the “rock flour”, when the glacier grates the rocks and produces sediment that, when the light hits it on the water, it becomes a murky sky blue. Lake Pukaki near Mt Cook and Twizel is the same. My jaunt took me around 3 hours. I'm surprised it didn't take longer considering the amount of time I stopped to take a breath/photos. One thing was for sure, I was definitely in Rohan!

Lake Tekapo from Mt John

Lake Tekapo – Mt Cook

I awoke to snow on the hills and was glad I'd done my walk the day before! I'd booked the Cook Connections bus, and although it was late, it did turn up, thankfully! Whilst waiting, I met another passenger, Sian, who is from Cornwall. We made friends on the bus and, once I'd dropped all my stuff off at the hostel in Mt Cook, we went walking together. Sian's really lovely and we have a lot in common. She's off travelling outside NZ for a bit but I hope to meet up with her when she returns in May/June. We walked up Hooker Valley together. The walk is 4 hours but it really didn't seem so long. It's a rough but well made path most of the way, with three rather high swing bridges over the glacial rivers. We had followed a school trip up from the camp site and were pretty glad when they stopped after the second bridge, when the weather turned. We got some really great pictures of Mt Sefton and the footstool, plus I got one amazing one of Mt Cook before the clouds came in. Unfortunately, I thought Mt Sefton was Mt Cook and vice versa. Oops. I was corrected in the visitor centre after, but they're great pictures none-the-less. There's a little hut about ¾ of the way up the track, but we decided to have our lunch there on the way back instead. It was another 40 minutes or so to the top of the track, and once we got around the corner, we were met with an amazing view... ICEBERGS! Real ones, floating around on the lake. By now, it had started to hail, so we didn't stay longer than to take a few pictures. We got back to Mt Cook village around 3pm and had a quick bite to eat and hot choc in one of the cafes before Sian had to get the bus back to Lake Tekapo. She's got a pass on the kiwi experience buses. I did consider them myself as you get accommodation with your ticket, but I can't afford it, hence the Naked Bus pass instead. She was only a day-visitor to Mt Cook, but we've kept in touch and I'll hopefully see her soon enough!

Sian and Me

My first night in the hostel, I spent most of my time updating my CV and applying for winter jobs. It was only $4 in this hostel for 24 hours although it didn't always work. I've applied for a job in the ticket office for Coronet Peak/the Remarkables, which are the two mountains near Queenstown. The season won't start until mid-June but it's a start on finding somewhere a bit more permanent than hostels. I also know 4 people who live nearby there so I wouldn't be completely alone either. My roommate for both nights was a 60+ American called Bob. He'd worked at the Hermitage, the posh hotel in Mt Cook, in the 1970s and was back to see how much had changed. He showed me pictures of what it used to be like, 40 odd years ago. He said he was back to apologise to his old boss, who still worked there, and, jokingly, ask for his old job back. He was a hoot, was Bob. He's given me his business card so we can keep in touch. When I met him, he'd just come from 3 months working in Antarctica. His business card says “Emperor Penguin Waxer”, although, he told me, that's what he told the folks at home (and they believed him). Instead he was just a kitchen porter. He said it was easy enough getting a job out there, but all you have to spend your money on is alcohol and souvenirs. I'm sure that'd get boring after a while... but what an experience! I'd definitely be able to make a snowman on my birthday there!!

Mt Cook

My second day in Mt Cook, I hired a bike from the backpackers for $35, and headed, alone this time, to the Tasman Glacier, over the other side of Mt Edmonton, which sits in the middle of the valley. It was a rough, gravel track, being worked on almost the entire way and only smoothed out, after 6 miles, at the car park. According to the workmen, who stopped me at one point due to a one way patch, I was “hardy” to come out in such cold weather. It had snowed again overnight, I did wish I had bike gloves but then I did have 4 layers on under my waterproof so I was okay. I locked up my bike on the sign and had a quick snack before I joined the other tourists on the path up to the view point. About half way up there was a sign to the Blue Lakes, which I dutifully followed to get away from the en mass of people heading the other way. The Blue Lakes, according to my lonely planet, are great to swim in summer. I could see that when I found them, although they didn't look that deep. I followed the tiny path around three of these tiny glacial lakes, before being led down a steep hill onto a gravel track. Instead of turning back towards the car park, I carried on up the path and was given advice from a fellow walker going the other way, on where to scramble back up the slope to get a good view of the Tasman Lake. A huge big boulder the size of a house showed me the way up, and up I went. At the very top, there was a sheer cliff down into the water, one I didn't fancy go near, but I stood at the top for a while for pictures and then retreated to a huge rock to eat lunch. Only one iceberg on the lake this time, but you could see more of the glacier. It was indeed a perfect view and right in the sun. I wanted to stay longer but after 15 minutes or so, the wind had picked up and I realised I still had to walk to the carpark and cycle back, so I did exactly that. It took me about 40 minutes to cycle 6 miles. Shamefully, I have not been on a bike in about 2 years, so that time for me was pretty good. I was exhausted by the time I got back to the hostel and immediately went for a lie down. That night, once Bob returned from his jaunt around the village, we had dinner together in the Chamois Bar & Grill. If I had thought the alcohol was expensive in Geraldine, this was worse. $15 for a bottle of cider this time, ouch. I couldn't afford it, so refused it and went with water instead. The bar itself was alright. You're given a number and have to collect your own food, which I thought a bit strange. Bob and I found ourselves a window seat with a lovely mountain view. I was sad to leave Mt Cook. The views were beautiful and reminded me of a larger Scotland.

Tasman Glacier

Mt Cook – Twizel – Christchurch

Bob left at 5am and by the time I left at around 10am via the tour bus again, it was raining again and views had disappeared. On the way to Mt Cook, the driver had given us a lot of history on where we were and pointed out scenes of Lord of the Rings and stopped for pictures a lot. This time, a different driver picked us up and apart from a small introduction and one stop on the way to Twizel, he said nothing at all and put on some weird drumming music that made me want to fall asleep. We arrived in Twizel at 11am. It's really nothing special. It was built as a temporary town to build the nearby dams, and when the construction was over, the townsfolk fought to keep their little town alive and won. There's a town square with shops on three sides and public bathrooms on the other. I took my time trailing around the one supermarket for something for lunch, but spent the rest of the time talking to a girl from Beijing in the bus stop. The most exciting thing about Twizel, for me, was that, even though I didn't have time to go and see it, they filmed most of the battle for Helm's Deep just outside the town.

The journey from Twizel back to Christchurch took around 4 hours, plus we stopped in Lake Tekapo for about 45 minutes and Ashburton for 15. I finally got a picture of the chapel in Lake Tekapo but didn't have enough time to visit it as it is across the river, and it was also still pouring it down. Christchurch had flooded in the past few days when I got back. The river had overflowed, picnic benches beside the river were half under water and any property close by had waterlogged gardens (at the very least). The hostel where I stay was untouched but apparently a lot of the city residents are in temporary housing until their property is water free. According to the news, Christchurch's roads dropped a few levels in the earthquake, making it easier for flooding in certain parts of the city. It seemed I missed it all as I awoke next day to another sunny day! On Thursday I walked to Northlands mall, which is about an hours walk, to get pieces for my costume. I had briefly been in contact with Danielle, our organiser for the Hokitika weekend, and she said she'd found me a telescope for my outfit. I found a captain's hat for $5 in an Asian shop and found materials for my boat in the Warehouse. I also found Irn-Bru for $2.50 in the mall. I don't really miss it but I still have now finished both cans since the weekend.

I must say, my outfit was pretty amazing. I set up my materials in the garden of the backpackers and got quite a few stares while I made my costume. It got a bit windy so I got one of the long-term-ers, Katie, to help me. I had found pirate braces and with me I had my sailor-y top and my red lipstick to complete the look. I do love dressing up and I love it even more when an idea comes together as well as I'd thought it out in my head.

Me as a Captain on my ship!

I realise that this is a huge chunk of information that I've just written so I will wait until later to post the Hokitika part. Don't forget to keep in touch. Tell me what you think! Give me advice or recommendations if you can!!

Kirsty x

Days in New Zealand: 32