Mount Cook

We took Jen and A to visit Mount Cook. It was the most beautiful place I've been so far in New Zealand. And that is saying A LOT as everywhere I go here is amazing. The real thing is twice as amazing as the pictures make it look.

It is a very bizarre thing to hold snow in your hands while being thoroughly warm and wearing shorts and a tank top.

Ok, so maybe my mom should not look at this photo, but Mount Cook and it's surrounding peaks sit on a number of different avalanche paths. Fortunately, the hike we were doing didn't climb high enough for there to be a risk for us, but we did hear and witness about 10 different avalanches on the surrounding mountains. Keira did a great job capturing one of them on camera...

Mueller glacier

The sunrise over Mount Cook was one of the most incredible things I have seen in my life.

Keira and Jen goofing around in the afternoon...

Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki

Adrienne and Jen came all the way here to visit us, which was amazing! On the day of their arrival we drove from Christchurch to Mt. Cook Village and stopped at Tekapo and Pukaki along the way.




We amused ourselves with a no-holds-barred round of "the rock game." (If you know Aneal Helms, you know what I'm talking about...)

Tuatapere Hump Ridge Track

My first experience in any part of Fiordland was on the Hump Ridge Track, a three day, two night tramp that climbs steeply up to the top of the Hump Ridge and then descends to the beach for the last day of the hike. The pictures don't even come close to capturing the beauty of the views from the top of the peak.





As we crossed one of the bridges (yes, this trail actually had bridges unlike Stewart Island) there was a bucket to lower down into the river for drinking water.

Our second day of hiking was through what looked like an enchanted forest as it was so incredibly green and alive.

We saw a Kea, a really smart alpine parrot, along the way.

The Percy Burns Viaduct, the oldest remaining wooden viaduct in the world.

The sunrise over the beach was gorgeous on our last day...

A couple we had met along the way left us a little message in the sand marking the fact that they had arrived safely at the beach at 7:40 a.m. to start the coastal part of the walk. Keira and I got there at 9 a.m. Oops! A little behind.

However, we ended up getting back before the other couple as we were offered a ride with some hunters for the last part of the walk which is a boring 5 km walk along a four wheel drive road with little scenary. Ok, so maybe it was cheating a bit, but we had no shame after hiking over 40 km already.