Twas 16 "sleeps" before Christmas...Part 2-Traveling NZ

We said good-bye to all of our new friends at the farm and hit the road for an easy 4-hour drive to Mt. Cook. My parents were great travelers, they sat in the backseat and told funny stories, ate some snacks, slept a little, read a little and giggled often.  On the way to Mt. Cook we began to see a few vista points of beautiful NZ. The Southern Alps were always beautifully set in the background and the country landscape was exquisite. When we got closer to the mountains we stopped at Lake Tekapo. A gorgeous blue lake surrounded by strong mountains. There was a little chapel right on the lake,  which mum took an illegal picture by accident. JThe air was fresh and crisp and the view was endless.

Driving NZ!

Running creek along the road 

Chapel looking out on Lake Tekapo

Lake Tekapo

As we headed more into the mountains and took the small road off the main road to Mt. Cook we came upon Lake Pukaki. Another magnificently blue lake formed directly from the glaciers. The water gets its perfect blue/turquoise color due to the glacier rock flour. The rock particles from the glacier get ground up as the glacier moves and the blue light is absorbed and then scattered amongst the particles, returning to the surface for us to see.

Lake Pukaki formed by the glaciers

Turquoise water

 Everything that surrounded us in NZ was this beautiful or more. The road to Aoraki, Mt. Cook was the only way in or out and led us right to this tiny, tiny little town. The road branched off to the right to go to the Tasman Valley, straight ahead was the towering Mt. Cook, and to the left were two roads that were lined with a mixture of housing or a hotel. There were three hotels in Aoraki, one of which was a hostel, one a hotel/backpacker budget accommodation, and the other was the main lodge. No one owns any housing in Aoraki, the only people who live there are the people that work in the area (hotels/restaurants, tour guides, mountain safety, etc). We stayed in a little chalet at the base of Mt. Cook, which was a monstrous tower of rock with a snowy peak so high that it was partially covered by the clouds.

Mt. Cook is the snowy mountain in the back with cloud covered peak

We learned of various stories of successful and unsuccessful mountain climbers that took on Mt. Cook. Sir Edmund Hillary is the hero of the area and there is an exhibit about his life. In the early days, a woman climbed Mt. Cook, first of her kind! There were stories of two men who got caught in an avalanche and were stranded for 13 1/2 days. They were rescued and lived but lost both of their legs. Years later, one of the men returned to fulfill his quest to conquer Mt. Cook and on his second excursion that year he made it to the top, prosthetics and all. Being in a small little village at the base of a conquered and conquering mountain really gives you more of a feel and appreciation for the danger and exhilaration of mountain climbing and the accomplishment that is felt when climbers reach the top. 

We settled into our little chalet and walked to the other hotel for a casual dinner. On the walk over the sky was clear except for the gathering clouds over Mt. Cook. An hour later, we had to run back as the rain started instantaneously on our walk home. That night was an amazing, yet not unordinary mountain storm, with howling wind, booming thunder and shattering rain.

The next day's early morning air was calm after the night's storm and we joined our glacier tour first thing in the am. We rode down to the Tasman Valley and passed by our first Lord of the Rings site! A large mountain face used as a backdrop for the battle of Minas Tirith. The weird thing is, that in NZ you always feel like you are in middle earth. We put on our life jackets and got in the boat on the glacier lake. We boated around huge glaciers that were formed millions of years ago. We got close enough to touch them and pull of some ice chunks that were the most delicious popsicles we’ve ever tasted. Pure, crystal clean ice water from millions of years ago. Ah, one with nature.

After our time on the glacier lake and a stop for lunch, we said good-bye to Mt. Cook and began our 3-hour drive to Queenstown, NZ. Queenstown was adorable! It is a rockin little town surrounded by water and mountains and known as the "Adventure capital of the world" as it is where bungee jumping began. (One of many adrenaline rushes you can find in Queenstown and its surrounds). We had a great little two-bed apartment with a great view from our balcony. We ate at the local pub, strolled through the streets lined with shops, restaurants, and cafes and had a few drinks outside on the harbor. 

 

We had an early morning tour, which was a “must-do” on our NZ trip. The little bus picked us up and we headed out of Queenstown south toward Te Anu.  Queenstown was a base camp for Lord of the Rings and had several landmarks that were easily recognizable. We really were in middle earth. We stopped at a little café where dad had his first traditional Aussie meat pie! He loved it! From here we headed to the west coast of South Island, Fiordland National Park with destination Milford Sound. Dad quickly made friends with our kiwi tour guides and had us all laughing the whole day. On the way our tour guide told us stories, fact and fiction, and told us about the huge fault line queenstown and most of the west coast sits on. It is expected to shift every 30 years and would be a vast destruction. They are 6 years past the 30-year mark and are prepared but hopeful the quake won’t happen.

In the park, we stopped several times to check out vista points, waterfalls, and creek beds where you could fill up your water bottles as the water had just fallen from the sky the day before.  Now the main thing with Fiordland and Milford Sound is that it is a tropical climate and always always rainy and wet. Sometimes just showers and sometimes thunderous and magnificent storms. But they day we went, it was perfect. Not a cloud in the sky the whole day. It was one of four days/year that was perfectly dry, which I attribute to the warmth and happiness of my parents! They brought the sun and beautiful weather the whole time they were here! Prior to our arrival in Milford Sound we stopped in the park for lunch. Our tour was called the BBQ Bus, so we set up some chairs along a creek bed and ate traditional kiwi BBQ with two kinds of mystery meat! 

Fiorland National Park

We continued to wind our way through the mountains and parkland (going very fast btw!) until we got to Homer Tunnel, the only link from the main road to the sound, built right through a mountain. This was a one-way tunnel that changed traffic direction every 15 minutes. When it was our turn to go we headed down 1270 meters at 1:10 gradient to the western portal and were spit out of the side of the mountain into a beautiful valley. We winded our way down the hairpin turns until we finally reached the dock for our boat tour of Milford Sound.

The beauty and power of Milford sound is truly indescribable. You stand on the deck of a ferry boat as you slowly make your way out into the calmness of the sound. You are surrounded by huge mountains and in front of you are the most beautiful rock formations that look like they just popped out of the water. You are a tiny little speck floating through a valley of whimsical giants. You are awed and suspended in a moment that seems like time has stood still.  These mountains had stories, they were alive and breathtaking. We passed a few waterfalls only flowing due to the hard rain the day before. We passed by the lion’s back which was two mountains with a hanging valley that resembled the body of a lion. And we were speechless the whole time. The only words spoken were my dad saying “This is the most beautiful place I have ever seen.” And he was right. Words and pictures don’t actually portray the true beauty and feeling of being there in person. You felt small, but full of life. You were surrounded by mountains, yet felt so free. You were awed, inspired, and appreciative of the natural beauty of this place, while gently gliding through the water.

Our second night in Queenstown was our last night in New Zealand and we were sad to leave. There is something special about New Zealand. Its beauty is joyful and fun and even after you have left this magical feeling stays with you and it returns every time I think about NZ.

Since Queenstown is situated in a large valley, so is the airport. We were on a normal size jet but on take-off we immediately began to turn and continued turning 360s until we were high enough to fly over the mountains. It was like going up a spiral staircase. We flew over snow peaked mountains and glaciers and made our way to Auckland, our only stop in North Island for our connection to Sydney, Australia.