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After our awesome encounter with the albatross we then started to drive inland we had a long drive through some pretty murky weather and ended up stopping at a riverside DOC freesite called Ahuriri Bridge. We weren't too sure how it looked at it was dark and misty. We were welcomed by a beautiful sunny clear skied morning. We hopped straight into the front seats and drove on as we wanted to see if we could get a good view of Mt Cook just in case any more cloud was going to come in. We drove up to Lake Pukaki and we were blown away! The lake was bright blue with glacier water and on the far end we could see Mt Cook towering above all the other mountains. It was a perfect spot to eat breakfast! We had been told that it was only worth driving up to the Mt Cook Village if it was a clear day and it was!!!! The village is more of a ski and climbers resort. The i site there is really good, it is more of a museum than an information centre explaining all the early attempts of the mountain and how it has change over the years. The mountain measures 3754m and is not an easy climb. Unfortunately my ankle was still bothering me so we could not walk far but we did walk up the hooker track for a bit for a better view. We also drove up to the Tasman Lake which was really interesting as the Tasman glacier is not like the others that we had seen. Instead of the ice sliding and falling on top of the rocks like a white sheet it buries under the rocks and filters into the lake that way.
Our next stop was Lake Tekapo. The town itself was extremely touristy but we managed to find a lovely secluded spot by driving up the east side of the lake and there we chilled for the afternoon reading books and taking in the awesome scenery. We decided to drive on as
No free camping was allowed and the other sites were very commercial and expensive!
It was a beautiful drive, as we drove away the ground was covered in lupins of all colours (my now favourite flower!) and the mist was starting to blanket the mountains in the most amazing way. We ended up finding a nice freesite on the Waimakariri Gorge where we could park right on the river bed surrounded by lupins! The next morning we had a slower start mainly as it was so stunning and no one else was there! It was a perfect spot to take a solar shower! We stopped at Oxford for a coffee and a camera charge. Then we stopped again at Rangiora mainly for a food shop but my ankle was still swollen and painful so we got it checked out at a medical centre. The service was amazing, we only had to wait half an hour. Luckily the Dr said that my ankle was not broken but i had badly damaged the bottom of my ligament and only time will tell how bad it really is. The advice was to keep it raised as much as possible and not to walk on it too much (definitely no tramping in the bush :( ) although relieved it was not a break it was frustrating to hear. She strapped it up with tape and a tubigrip. Back on the road again we travelled to Hanmer Springs. We were not blown away by the town, it was beautiful with a hot water springs (which was very expensive compared to Taupo or Rotorura) the main attraction was the walks . . . Which I was unable to do! We carried on along the Lewis pass road to a free DOC site called Deer Valley. It was pretty and by the river but SWARMING with sandflies!! We hid in the van for the evening and poor old James volunteered to do the washing up in the morning and face the sandflies! He was dressed head to toe with his hat on and buff pulled up over his face yet still he did not get away bite free; they found his hands!!!
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