Aoraki Mt Cook on a sunny, clear day

This was my third visit to Aoraki Mt Cook National Park, and the weather was absolutely incredible -- sunny and clear and reasonably warm! It was such a lucky opportunity that we were there on that day, and it really made a good final day of our roadtrip. I took lots of photos of Aoraki, since it is the first time I have seen it so clearly and for so long. Doing the Hooker Valley Track walk offered us incredible views the whole way in and out. And there were still a few icebergs on the glacial lakes to check out.

view from Mt Cook Village

our first 'peak' at Aoraki/Mt Cook :)

view looking back at Lake Pukaki with its gorgeous turquoise water

this kind of reminded me of the shape of NZ

Hooker Glacier

Stewart Island

The ferry ride to get from Bluff (at tip of the South Island) to Stewart Island was terribly rocky, and people were getting sick left and right (yes, some threw up). It's an hour-long ride, too. There was a storm going on so we couldn't see much outside of the windows with the crashing waves and rain. I usually don't get seasick, but I did this time and almost lost it. The boat was battered hard several times by big waves -- I suddenly had even more sympathy for the people who immigrated to New Zealand via a three-month boat ride that we had just learned about at the Otago Settlers Museum in Dunedin. There's a recreation of the sleeping quarters there -- no windows, just a small hard bunk.

little town of Oban, the only on Stewart Island

We made it to the hostel (a small, quaint place where they don't even give you keys because there is a trust policy that seems to work alright) after toting our luggage in the rain and later headed down to the dock again to see the little blue penguins come in for the night. There were only three, but they were cute to watch as they swam up then hurriedly slipped behind the rocks to make it to their hidden nests on shore. We came back the next day too and saw three again, but one did a little show and jumped off a rock into the water before disappearing.

 

The next day we lingered in the hostel waiting for the rain to let up. We darted over to the visitor center, me trying in futile to use an umbrella and having it not work at all and then expressing my anger at NZ weather. I'm not a fan of being wet. By mid-day the rain had cleared enough that we suited up in our rain gear and went out for a walk along one of the shore paths. It was nice enough and we saw some NZ birds along the way and some cool seaweed on the rocks. At dusk, we went to a nearby area that is known for kiwi sightings, but unfortunately we didn't get to see any -- just lots of other birds hunting for worms in the rain-soaked field. The short rainforest trail we took was cool though, and haunting at night. It's nice to not have to worry about predators here.

 

naughty kea birds about to be fed on someone's porch

New Zealand wood pigeon (so big!)

rainforest walk

 

treated ourselves to fish & chips after the hike

The ferry back the next day was much better and calmer. We all stood at the back in the fresh air to avoid the claustrophobic feeling of the cabin, and it seemed to work and no one got sick this time.

Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park

Although Aoraki/Mount Cook was a no-show because it was encased in fog/clouds the whole two days we visited, it was a nice trip to the mountains and a good chance for me to visit for the first time one of the most popular tourist areas on the South Island. It was around four hours to drive from Christchurch to Mount Cook with some beautiful views of the country along the way. We stayed at the Glentanner Park Centre which is just outside of the park, and it has good views of the mountains and is close to the lake which you can walk to. There were also chickens and lots of bunnies around.

We drove into Mount Cook Village for dinner since there isn't anything else around, and the food was quite tasty at the Old Mountaineers' Cafe, Bar and Restaurant. The next day, because of the weather (or not enough people for them to make up a group), the tour company cancelled our morning tour, so we had to wait around to see if any of the afternoon ones would go through. Thankfully, a later one did so we were able to go out on a boat on the Tasman Glacier terminal lake. It was a bit more extreme than it sounded like online (whoops!), but it was so much fun to get right up to icebergs that had broken off from the glacier that day or the previous day and touch them and then hold a chunk that the tour guide broke off for us. The shades of blue are so gorgeous! My camera kept getting wet but I got a few good shots. We went really fast on the way to and from getting closer to the glacier itself, and so we got soaked on the way back because of the wind and going against the water flow. At the end, we almost saw one of the big icebergs flip, but it got stuck on the bottom of the lake -- we did see it start to tip and rocks and debris falling off of it as it moved. There were lots of wildflowers along the path as well, so all in all a fun experience nestled in the mountains.