Mt Cook

Waving goodbye to Tony and Dave, the NZ road website declared the roads open, and we were driving towards Mt Cook. We stopped a few times for photos of the crisp white snow against a clear blue sky before arriving in the small alpine Mt Cook village.

With some persuasion from James we headed for the Hooker valley track, with an added 2km due to the access road being snowed under. Armed with walking poles to help my terrible balance we crunched our way to the beggining. Suprisingly the path was clearly marked by a 1 foot across depression in the snow by the morning trampers so there was no way to get lost off the trail.

We crossed 3 swing bridges with Mount Cook looming ahead before finally descending to lake hooker shore. The lake was frozen solid and the glacier beyond was buried under the snow. Mount Cook dominated the landscape and looked amazing in the late day sun bathing its snow covered slopes.

Turning back as sunset the colours on the mountain turned orange whilst the sky beyond turned a deep purple. We reached the car as darkness set in and drove a small distance to the YHA. Setting out soaking boots in front of the fire we toasted another brilliant day in NZ.Read more