NZ Day 19 – Mt. Cook

After a lovely breakfast at the B&B in Dunedin, we packed up and hit the road.  We made a stop at the Moreki boulders – cool, since we were passing by, but I would not recommend making a major detour to fit the boulders in.  We then said goodbye to the Pacific Coast and made our way inland to the Southern Alps.  Along the way, we pulled over for some marked Maori cave drawings.  Again, one of those attractions not worth making the detour, but since it was along our way, no big deal.  We finally caught glimpse of snow-capped mountains, as well as the clouds that would soon engulf them.  It was a beautiful drive into Mt. Cook National Park, with the clear blue waters of Lake Pukaki along the way.  We pulled over at the impressive visitor center then set off on the Hooker Valley Track, only to encounter gale-force winds in our face.  We only made it about half way down the track before the clouds swallowed the mountain views and the wind was too much to bear.  The photos should illustrate just how gusty it was.  We then headed back out of the park and hopped over to our Cottage in Tekapo (cute!), while picking up some take-out Chinese along the way (we are tired of paying $$$ for so-so meals at restaurants).  We took a stroll down to the lake with awesome mountain lupine in bloom on the lakeshore just behind the iconic Church of the Good Sheppard.

Tomorrow we’re off to Christchurch to start our long journey back home =(

[pe2-gallery album=”http://picasaweb.google.com/data/feed/base/user/116540931850597192007/albumid/5818690950764381185?alt=rss&hl=en_US&kind=photo” ]