South Island Itinerary: Mount Cook and Hooker Glacier

On our second day in Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park, we hiked the longer Hooker Valley Track, which took us through a beautiful, almost enchanted glacial valley with mountain peaks towering over us on either side and lots of snow and fog. The peak of Aoraki stayed stubbornly shrouded in cloud, but it was still majestic in its mystery. The end point was a lake full of bits of ice, and people were dumbly trying to stand on it to see if it would hold their weight (yes, I might have tried it a bit too - the thrill and sound of cracking ice are too cool!). We had to cross several swing bridges there and back, and the rain started up just as we made it back to the parking lot - we were quite lucky in the weather while here! This walk and photos will definitely be a long time in memory.

You can just make out the glaciers

weta bug near the restrooms

Gorgeous mirror effect in the lake

South Island Itinerary: Mount Cook and Tasman Glacier

This was my second trip to Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park this year, and it has become one of my favorite places in New Zealand, easily. There are so many glaciers and mountain peaks and you're nestled in the valley surrounded by them. Plus, driving up Lake Pukaki to get there is great in itself because it is such a beautiful lake with stunning blue water.

The first day we did a short hike to the Tasman Glacier overlook (in winter, you can't go on the lake). It's surprising how much dirt settles on top of the glacier, because your first thought of a glacier is usually ice, not mounds of dirt obscuring it. But the icebergs floating in the terminal lake are less dirty and have cool patterns of dirt on them as they flip and bump and dissolve.

These ducks were on some smaller lakes on the hike to the overlook.
They are called "Blue Lakes" but the algae has turned them green.

Close-up of the Tasman Glacier. So dirty!

Tour helicopter making the rounds

South Island Itinerary: Queenstown Skiing

There are three skifields within a relatively short drive from Queenstown, so I finally decided to try out skiing since the scenery can't be beat. After plunking down a fair bit of money for all the gear (then another $10 to rent a locker) and getting fitted with the hard-to-walk-in boots, I had a fun day taking the beginner lessons and starting to get the hang of it on the bunny slopes. It is a cool feeling once you feel a little more in control, and they have conveyor belts so you don't have to awkwardly maneuver too much to get back up to try it again. I can definitely see how it can be an addictive sport. The drive up and down the mountains was pretty harrowing - there aren't guard rails for a lot of it - but the old car made it, and the views from The Remarkables were just that - simply breathtaking. There are views across the valley and the snow-covered mountains were beautiful.

Sydney's Blue Mountains at Katoomba

The cheap flights to Sydney are very early in the morning, so we had to get up before 3:00am to make it to the airport on time. Then, with the time difference, you arrive about the same time as you left, so your internal clock is confused. We took the train at the airport out to the Blue Mountains, but unfortunately there was track work that weekend so we had to transfer to a bus for the last leg of the journey. Once in the town of Katoomba (the biggest tourist spot at the Blue Mountains), we walked the short ways to Echo Point to view The Three Sisters rock formation which was lovely, then walked about a mile and a half to the downtown area to get dinner. We got caught in a thunderstorm and had to wait underneath an eave while lightning displayed above and thunder pounded and rain poured -- some of us were more enthused than others about that scenario!

The next day we went to Scenic World, which is the easiest way to explore the rainforest down in the valley of the Blue Mountains. It has the steepest railway in the world (52-degree angle), along with two cable cars: one that goes into the rainforest and one that goes across the valley and has a glass-bottom floor! The train ride down was pretty scary because it is so steep you feel like you're going straight down, but it was fun. It's like a roller coaster but without the drop. The area used to be a big coal mine, and the miners had it a lot worse back in the day when they took that trip in a dinky mine car. Taking the train back up was actually scarier I think, because you feel like your body is falling the wrong way and it feels very weird.