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So New Zealand eh, well I have to say that it has all been pretty cool so far! The whole temperature thing was been a bit of a shock but think we are gradually getting used to it. The main bonus however is the freedom we now have with Evie, NZ is def a place where you need wheels. With this in mind we decided to set off on a bit of a jaunt to Mount Cook which is over towards the west of the South Island. Now we didn't really know what to expect and as I was taking the wheel for the first time Grant was imagining some kind of skidding off cliff down snowy mountain scenario... honestly, no faith. I was feeling confident however so we sped off to the hills with cloudy skies above us and prayed for the sun to come out (although I think Grant was more concerned about his life).
As we approached the MacKenzie Region the change in landscape was immense, with acres of tundra, stunning glacial lakes and sky piercing mountains. All Grant could say was 'ooh it's so Lord of the Rings' and 'ah that looks so like Mordor'. It totally does though and we discovered that a lot of the film was shot around this area... unfortunately no hobbit sightings however. Lake Tekapo was our first stopping point and we took a few snaps as we looked out onto the vast stretch of water. The trusty LP said it was surrounded by beautiful mountains but at this point the cloud was still so thick that we had to just take their word for it.
Onward we went until we reached Lake Pukaki which was just so stunning
I felt a bit boggled. We parked up lil Evie and went right down to the waters edge where the blueness of the lake and the now bright blue sky and my lovely blue top was all just too blue for words. The reason it is so blue though is because of... hmmm, let me just ask Geography Grant.... because it contains cornflower sediment or something - wierd, not sure he's got that right. Anyway, we had a spot of lunch (cheese for the 4th day running - damn Barry's Bay) and just stared out over the lake at Mount Cook which was just emerging from the clearing cloud... all very mystical I have to say.
As we drove on and got closer to the mountains we stopped about another 200 times so we could take more snaps. Reason for this is mainly that every time you think you have got the 'ultimate shot' you go round a corner and see an even better one. Now not that Grant got annoyed at this but let's just say think he may have been fine with 199 stops rather than the full 200. Mount Cook is such an impressive sight and as we got closer you could see that most of it is snow covered. It stands at 3817 metres making it the tallest mountain in Australasia so obviously climbing it was high on our list of things to do.... er joke. It is pretty much only climbed by proper mountain climber type dudes so we thought a little visit to a hotel bar was probably a more appropriate activity. The Hermitage Hotel is apparently the most famous hotel in NZ as it literally looks right out onto Mount Cook. It is pretty swanky and like a million bucks a night or something so after a little look around we thought we best make haste and set off to see a glacier lake just nearby. To get to the lake a bit of light uphill rock climbing (!?!) was involved but being pros at this kind of thing now we made it up there no probs (!?!). The views from the top were awesome though, surrounded by mountains, including Mt Cook, and below was a lake like a mirror with bits of iceberg in it - not a sight you see everyday. The sky was clear blue by this time so again the camera came out and just one or two snaps were taken.
As we left the glaciers behind and drove off to our campsite for the night we kept looking in the rear view and side mirrors and just seeing these huge snow capped mountains behind us - so cool. Then, as dusk fell the sky turned an amazing pinky orange... ahhh camera again, que Grant's breakdown. Anyway, as you can probably tell, we kinda liked the Mackenzie Region so apologies now if we have like a million pictures on here, but at least it's not the 2 million it could have been so enjoy...
Until next time...
Linz x
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