Speed hike to Kea Point (Mount Cook)

Time to say goodbye to Queenstown and once again getting up early after a not really good sleep. At 7:20 am the bus to Mount Cook and afterwards continuing to Christchurch left Queenstown. I really do not know how many hours I have spent in busses and vans by now😄 Once more I had a bus driver, Tom, who gave a lot of interesting information on the trip, but he was not talking as much as Paulie😂 We had a first refreshment break at a fruit and vegetable store by the road with a beautiful garden and nice sculptures. Furthermore Tom made a photo stop on a beautiful pass. The landscape almost on the entire trip was amazing again. When we arrived at Lake Pukaki Mount Cook, New Zealand's highest mountain, came into our view. Tom said we were pretty lucky with the good view. After a photo stop at Lake Pukaki we continued to the Mount Cook village. Most of the passengers had booked lunch in the Hermitage Hotel, but I wanted to have at least some time in the nature. What I did not know before was, that I would only have about 100 minutes. There was a sign to kea point (viewpoint on Mount Cook) which would take one hour one way. I decided to do it anyway being pretty confident to be able to do it much faster. The track was not difficult, but pretty nice. After about 35 minutes I arrived at kea point. The view on Mount Cook was gorgeous. I had hoped to see keas here (the name of the track was very promising, too), but once again no keas. It probably was the last chance for me to see them. Well, I am a bit sad about it, but on the other hand this just means, that I have to come back to New Zealand😊After about 85 minutes I arrived back at the Hermitage Hotel (some 6km - it was a speed hike😁). After Mount Cook, we had a photostop at Lake Tekapo and a refreshment break in Geraldine. At about 8:00 pm, I arrived in Christchurch. I am excited about tomorrow. There is going to happen something special. Stay curious😉Read more