Wed 25th Feb: Mount Cook

I spent this morning sorting out buses, accomodation etc for the next few days. You have to be a lot more organised here in New Zealand than in SSouth America. You have to book your hostel in advance or chances are you may not get accomodation. It means most of my time on the internet is noe spent checking bus timetables or accomodation listings. Which means ultimately that the blog is suffering as I fall way behind with the updates. This morning I have also changed my flight to Bali. I put it back by 3 days to give me a little extra time here.

With all the organising the morning flew. Very soon it was time to catch the bus to Mount Cook.

We're heading into the heart of the Southern Alps to see New Zealand's highest mountain Aoraki/ Mt Cook. The weather was beautiful this morning so it was fingers crossed in the hope that it would remain fine up in the mountains. It was a relatively shot hop of 90 mins across moorlands and the shores of lake Pukaki whose waters were even more brilliantly blue than Tekapo's. Creeping around the shores of Pukaki the summit of Mt Cook stood high above the cloud line off in the distance in the heart of the mountains. Following the western shore of lake Pukaki northwards Mt Cook loomed in and out of view. Some of the passengers had booked scenic flights over the mountains by helicopter and plane . These were dropped off at their relevant stops.

By 1.30pm the bus pulled into the hostel at Mt Cook and a gaggle of backpackers jumped off here. Like yesterday I didn't hang about. I ate, got changed and followed a hiking trail which brought me up one of the mountain valleys towards Mt Cook. The route was evidently a popular one judging by the umber of people on the trail. The mountains lining the valley went up over 2,000m and held glaciers high up on their sides. As the afternoon progressed cloud descended and you coud hear but not see the small avalanches that rumbled like distant thunder high above the snowline. At the head of the valley lay a glacial lake fed by a glacier that drops chunks of ice and meltwaters from its base. The glacier, covered by black debris winds it way down around the base of Mt Cook. Small icebergs float down the lake away from the fron of the glacier towards a fast moving stream which drains the lower end of the lake. Beyond the glacier the tall imposing form of Mt Cook rose up. By noe its summit was obscured by cloud. The cloud came in, wisping over the summits of lower mountains. Rising and falling in the air currents. 5 or 6 of us waited awhile hoping the clouds would lift and give us a clear view of the mountain. The clouds didn't lift, instead more rolled in over the tops of the surrounding mountains so I turned around and hiked back down the valley.

In the evening I cobbled together a meal of eggs, tuna beans and toast in the kitchen from a few bits and bobs I could get the tiny shop in the hostel. As I prepared the food a Japanese guy and I asked if I was from the U.K. I told him I where I was from. He said he thought I must have been from the U.K. judging by the food I was making. I laughed but then became quite conscious of what others were making for themselves. One girl was preparing an avocado salad and prwans and pasta in a wine sauce. A lad had grilled chicken in a sauce on a bed of saffron rice. I began to squirm as I chomped into another slice of half-burned toast.