South Island stop #1: Mt Cook
On Saturday we packed up all our stuff in Christchurch, picked up our housesit family from the airport, watched a really sweet reunion with them and their happy dogs, and got our road trip podcasts and peanut butter cookies ready for a drive to our first stay in Twizel. It’s a small sleepy town of about 1200 people, but a great jumping off point into our first area: the Mackenzie District, with its beautiful lakes, Church of the Good Shepherd and iconic Mt Cook, the tallest mountain in New Zealand. This mountain is where Sir Edmund Hillary, first person to summit Mt Everest and celebrated New Zealand mountaineer, trained to get ready for Everest. We are staying in this area for three nights at an AirBnB with a lovely couple, Jeanette and Bruce. They are so kind and included us in their dinner on Sunday and Monday night. She has a great kitchen and shares my love for cooking, so already we’re baking bread together, sharing a cuppa and being invited to help ourselves to their (amazing) supply of eggs in the morning for breakfast. I made them some caramel apple sticky buns as you really can’t get a proper cinnamon roll here, and we all ate an admirable amount of them.
Bruce and Jeanette. They built their home themselves and are the most lovely people.
I am certain that this won’t be the end of amazing photos that I upload here but this is the most beautiful scenery we’ve seen here so far, which is a bit difficult since everything we’ve encountered on the South Island is inspiring. So check out the majesty!
Church of the Good Shepherd, one of the most photographed churches in the country and has a beautiful backdrop of Lake Tekapo. We attended a lovely Anglican Sunday evening service here.
Me with one of the baby “chooks” at our AirBnB.
When the feed is scattered, chickens, turkeys, and even a goose raised by chickens come running. The owners have pheasants, turkeys, a goose and over 100 chickens and get around 3 dozen eggs a day.
On Sunday we hiked the Hooker Valley track, a very easy 3 hour return hike that gets you close enough to Mt Cook to get some pretty great shots, as well as in good view of several glaciers. A large glacier runoff river runs past you, and the water is extremely blue from the glacier melt and a little pearly from minerals, I’d guess. It’s heavenly and worth a visit.
A monument to all those who have died in this national park. There are some very technically difficult climbing areas, including Mt Cook, that we will not be attempting.
Here’s an obligatory travel picture that I have to post early this year to get it out of the way. I will not be posting pictures of my feet in front of a beach, sorry.
How about my feet on a bridge?
Mt Cook. It’s 12,218 feet tall and is the tallest peak in New Zealand.
One of the many glaciers we’ll be encountering. Get out to see them now, as they are dramatically retreating due to climate change and won’t be around forever.
Lake Pukaki at sunset. You can’t make this up, it’s so dreamy!
On Monday we walked the Twizel Valley track, which was peaceful and almost devoid of any people, except for a woman out on a ride with her Clydesdale horse. The horse was very interested in the apple we had picked up from a tree we’d passed.
some parts really do feel like Middle-Earth.
Categories: New Zealand
Wow!! Love the pic of your feet! The scenery there is ah-mahzing!
Ah, SO majestic!! 😀
Those sticky buns look amazing!! I can’t wait to try them out. The scenery is pretty average though…
yeah, we’re pretty much over it 😀
We enjoy sharing your journey. You are taking us places we would never get to see on our own.
We love you so much. Looking forward to the North Island. Can’t wait to see the alpacas.
Can’t get over these photos. I am so happy for the soul-nourishing beauty you’re experiencing.
Y’all look wonderful.
Well here I am again…wanting one of those sticky buns!!! You will have to make some for us when you get back. You are really seeing some pretty sights and you write so good I feel like I have been there with you! You both look great and happy and love the jumping Jack picture! There is a cute gal over there on a scholarship form Stillwater, Okal. college for 10 days,she goes to our church and loves horses and that is what her major in college is.Her Dad fixed our computer last week and I told him about U and your adventure and that is when he told me Kathryn was going there too…I thot what a coincidence!!! Looks like Aspen trees in one picture, they have those in Colorado …pretty yellow.
Be careful and don’t spend you money all in once place…ha. Love You. Mommo