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

Trip to Nelson

We took a little trip up to Nelson before the busy-ness of the school year starts up. The drive from Christchurch was quite scenic and the sunny weather made for good photos.

We stopped at a waterfall just off the highway on the drive up. Unfortunately I slipped on a large loose rock in the gravel parking lot and scratched up my hand catching my fall -- haven't had that kind of dirt burn for a long time. At first I thought the kayak sign was a mistake, but then D said you could actually kayak down the falls. Crazy!