With too much to see and not enough time to see it all, did the best I could and was on the rain-slicked road out of Christchurch by 7:30 this morning. Being so far south at this time of year, the sun had not yet risen and it was quite dark for all of the early morning activity that was occurring through the town. Made my way onto the “highway” and set out for Mount Cook, or Aoraki in Maori, a good 330km+ drive from the east coast. By 8:30 ish, the sun started to peak out over the jagged-tipped mountains to the west just off the righthand side of the car. Being late autumn, the drive became more and more spectacular as the hills became increasingly vibrant shades of golden and tangerine and crimson against a crisp blue sky and snow-dusted peaks. Almost too-picturesque…
As soon as I thought the non-Aoraki views had peaked (pun very much intended), my ’91 rented Nissan rolled over a hill and laid out before me was Lake Tekapo, a spectacular basin at the foot of the Mt. Cook National Park mountains and Southern Alps. The water looked like it had a shield of ice over it because it was so still and the grass on the banks were encrusted with dew that crunched under each step towards the shore. At the tiny bakery on the edge of the lake I grabbed a hot chocolate to defend against the 45 degree temperatures. Moving onwards, a similar and even more amazing landscape unfolded just before the turn onto SH 80 to the Mount Cook base with the arrival at Lake Pukaki. From here, Mount Cook was visible in the distance, the water was a milky blue, paler in color than any lake or sea I’ve ever seen. This was totally different than the transparent aqua of the Alexandria or Manly shores but equally as striking and rich of a color. I read in my guide book tonight that its because of “rock flour,” sediment created from when the lake’s basin was gouged out by the glacier’s movement and grinding up the rocks. After stopping for a few minutes to take in the view, I got back into the car for the last push until the Cook base.
Once there, I walked around the village and remember thinking how crazy and cool it was that people really lived there year-round and made a life there, considering its an incredibly tiny village of just a few houses and no less than 70 km from the nearest town. I parked at the trailhead in Hooker Valley and then hiked through the valley and across two suspension bridges over the Hooker River to get a better view of the Huddleston and Stocking Glaciers. It was a good hike but definitely a bit challenging because of the rocky and constantly-changing terrain. After returning an hour and a half later, I drove around Mount Wakefield, which separates the Aoraki Village and Hooker Village from the Tasman Valley.
I was pleasantly surprised, the Tasman Valley hike was much more fun and I thought had better views than the first hike. On the Tasman Glacier View Trail, the view back over Lake Pukaki was arguably better since you gained significantly more elevation, and the surrounding peaks to the east (as you hike north) looked as if the snow had freshly fallen. As you hike up, you pass the triplet Blue Lakes, which are very very green and not at all blue. Like Pukaki and the Hooker River, the water was very milky looking, assumingly from glacier runoff. Higher up the rocky trail is the Tasman Glacier. At first you can’t even tell you’re looking at a glacier—even the placard that marks the view point at the top of the trail is titled, “Where’s the Glacier?”. In fact the glacier and many of the icebergs in the lake in front of you are covered in up to 2 meters of rubble and dust making the glacier blend in with the charcoal-colored banks of the mountainsides.
Made my way back to the car and then set out for Queenstown. The drive back through the mountains and at the bases was incredible and reminded me a lot of the scenery at the Tetons in Jackson Hole, where it’s solidly flat until all of a sudden the mountains jut upwards. The autumn colors and setting sun (which again, because we’re so south, starts to set around 3 pm according to the car clock) never grew tiresome to look at. Almost too suddenly, the landscape quickly changed as the highway entered into the Lindis Pass, where winding through the mountain range to the other side of the ridge proved a bit tricky. Thankfully I made it through the pass before the sun went too far below the mountains and made it into Queenstown by 5 pm.
I’ve spent a good deal of the evening decompressing, walking around Shotover Street (and splurging on a famous Fergburger, which is dangerously located next to my hostel) and thinking over the route for the rest of the week ahead and what to do, since snow (!!) is in the forecast for the next few days and may cancel some of the adventuring and thrill-seeking I so desperately wanted to do (and my mother is currently thanking Nature for squashing). But this trip is all about playing it by ear and so only time and precipitation will tell how it all plays out.
I’m now sitting in the lounge of the YHA hostel right in the heart of Q’town. The lounge has an entire wall replaced with picture windows that look out over the dock and out onto Lake Wakatipu. It’s dark now but still a fun view to have. Changed plans last night and decided to spend tomorrow doing things in and around Queenstown so looking forward to a morning without driving (until late afternoon when I plan to move to Te Anau).
NZ Road Trip Stats so far:
Day’s kilometerage: 591 km
Trip total: 591 km
Hikes: 2
Fergburgers: 1
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As the sun rises
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Southern Alps
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Autumn Tree Tunnel
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Lake Pukaki
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Mt. Cook
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Glaciers from Hooker Valley Hike
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Tasman Glacier, Mt. Cook in upper left
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Tasman Icebergs
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Where's the glacier? No one knows...
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Blue Lakes
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Tasman Valley and Beyond
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Autumn
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Peter's Lookout
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Lindis Pass
