Mount Cook National Park

After a very comfortable and peaceful nights sleep at the farmhouse we were up early and in the kitchen with the other house guests and the owner cooking our breakfasts and making our lunches. With full stomachs and provisions for the day we jumped into the car and headed to Mount Cook National Park where New Zealand's highest mountain of the same name is situated. The journey took about an hour and with relatively clear weather we had good views of the snow capped mountains in the park... well, all except Mount Cook which was unfortunately still clouded over. On arrival into Mount Cook village we headed straight for the visitors centre to find out which of the many walks were open as some were closed due to heavy snowfall. The alpine village is a tiny place nestled in between the mountains and at this time of year it was exceptionally empty and quiet... just the way we like it! We picked two walks then parked the car and set off. The first walk was called The Red Tarns which took us up a windy, stepped path past the snow line to a viewpoint half-way up Mt Sebastopol. We had panoramic views over the village, the national park and it's beautiful mountains and it soon started to snow quite heavily which was lovely. There is something about snow that turns us both into big kids! We decided to stop a while and eat our lunch at the viewpoint before heading back down a rather icy path back to the village. Once back at the village we decided we wanted to stay out in the snow and so we went on a short walk called Governor's Bush which took us along a windy woodland path.

With the snow continuing to fall quite heavily we decided call it a day for walking and visit the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre which is located inside the Hermitage Hotel in Mount Cook village. The centre houses a collection of photos and relics, including a short film documenting the life of Sir Edmund Hillary and his conquest of Everest. There is also information and artifacts on other famous Kiwi mountaineers, all of whom regularly climbed and trained in Mount Cook National Park. Inside there was also a small planitarium and 3D Mount Cook National Park film which was all really very interesting and we managed to while away several hours quite easily.

By late afternoon we decided that we had better make the journey back to our hostel while there was still daylight. The snow was still falling heavily. Back at the hostel we cooked ourselves dinner with Fitzy the dog following our every move and playing all sorts of tricks to get some scraps. We then spent the evening sitting cosily by the fire with the owner watching a DVD of 'George and Mildred' (a 1970's English sitcom that Bi loved as a child).

Tomorrow we will slowly start making our way towards Christchurch which is were we will finish our New Zealand adventures.