Today saw the first real (intentional) change in my itinerary since I’d planned this trip. My original plan was to spend two days in the Wanaka area and proceed to the west coast of the South Island. Reports from my Christchurch shuttle driver, Coogan relatives and some other tourists made it clear that a visit to Aoraki (AKA Mount Cook) was more valuable than many days in Wanaka. This got me me thinking about elevating my “optional detour” to replacing something else on the main agenda. I should add that the final tipping point was when Mollie was extremely insistent that I not miss “the best hike in New Zealand” (located in that area). With such rave reviews, I rearranged my plans to make a full day visit to Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park, with an overnight in the town of Lake Tekapo. My morning began early again with a missed call (Ramesh B) at 0515. I got out of bed at the La Quinta about 30 minutes later and packed up my stuff. By 0715, I departed Queenstown. It was very dark driving on Route 6 and I didn't have any tail-lights to follow. However, there was LOTS of traffic coming into town and this kept me focused. I ate a light breakfast in the car and then had to pay extreme attention to the drive as I proceeded through a deep canyon, at least part of which was called the Kawarau Gorge. It took almost an hour to get out of the winding roads and find some flat land - whew! As I approached the town of Cromwell (from the west side), it finally got light enough to see something besides the highway. As a result, I had some nice views of Lake Dunstan just after I got on Route 8A (for a short time). After reaching Route 8, I continued north. Before long, I found myself completely alone on the road. Any thoughts I had of relaxing, however, were constantly being challenged as I kept encountering random 90 degree turns and one lane bridges. At 100 kph, those types of surprises can really give you a jolt! The weather was cloudy but dry and the temps started in the 40s. Occasionally, really fast cars overtook me and disappeared again. Otherwise, I was alone in the middle of New Zealand... I passed one interesting terrain feature called the Lindis Pass - there was snow on the tops of the hills above me as I came through another series of canyons in the area. Something tells me that the pass was a short, easy transit compared to the two I have to cross to see the west coast... After the hills, it got more flat again and I saw several interesting towns along the way (hope to have time to stop in some of them tomorrow). Just over two hours into the drive, it started to rain. This reduced the already poor visibility to almost nothing. A bit later, I switched to Route 80 and drove along the west side of Lake Pukaki. The water was a pretty turquoise color. The rain continued as I made my way deeper into the valley below Aoraki (AKA Mount Cook). On this stretch of highway, there were lots more single lane bridges. I saw glimpses of snow covered mountains coming in and out of clouds but really had no good views. At 1015, I arrived at Mount Cook Village. As I got out of the car at the historic Hermitage Hotel, temps were near freezing and there were huge snowflakes falling! I was not inclined to start the hike yet so (at 1030), I got “brunch” (breakfast burrito, banana and cookie) at the Sir Ed Cafe inside the Hermitage Hotel. While eating, I did some texting with Eileen. After my meal, I wandered downstairs and located the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre and bought a ticket for their displays and a movie (1130). The museum was interesting and the movie, about the life of the first man to summit Mount Everest (and the expedition itself), was even better (I learned about his philanthropy too). As I emerged from the hotel again (1230), I decided the weather looked nice enough for the hike. I first tried to visit the National Park Visitor Center but found it closed for lunch. Instead, I decided to drive further into the valley to see if I might hike a little of the Hooker Valley Track, Mollie’s favorite trail in New Zealand. I found the trailhead at 1250 and was able to get geared up quickly and hit the trail. I have to say that I agree it was a good hike! It featured three huge suspension bridges, about 3.5 miles of hiking (one way) to a beautiful glacier and lake and amazing views of the towering mountains on both sides of the valley (the so-called “Southern Alps”). Downside (besides getting rained on for most of the walk): there were a lot of people on the trail because the terrain wasn’t too steep. Still, I was glad to have gotten a chance to make the journey after the earlier nasty weather. I finished this memorable Trek at 1500 and returned to the Visitor Center to learn a bit more about the park. The weather was still good and the park rangers recommended a drive into the Tasman Valley, which I began shortly afterwards. Along the way, I found a short hike that allowed visitors to view the Tasman Glacier - sadly, it’s almost gone after about 40 years of constant retreat. It only took about 20 minutes to climb up and down (1540 to 1600) but that was good because it started raining again. Since I still had some driving to do before reaching my hotel, I left the park. I used Route 80 to make my way south again. The weather had improved tremendously and I got great views (by stopping the car a few times) of the mountains. By this point, my gas gauge started dropping much more quickly than I was expecting. I’d planned to get gas in Lake Tekapo (where I was going to stay) but it was clear I wouldn’t make it there. My Plan B was to get gas in the town of Twizel, which I thought was at the intersection of Routes 80 and 8. When I arrived, already on fumes, I realized I still had to drive 8 km (backtracking away from my evening destination) to reach the town. Needless to say, I was sweating bullets by the time I reached the Mobil station in town (1700). I didn’t even care how much it cost per Liter! Tank refilled and feeling relieved, I got back on Route 8 and headed east. During this phase, I got more glimpses of Lake Pukaki (from the southern end) and could see more mountains across the water. The road, however, went father and farther away from these views and I soon found myself in the middle of some of the most desolate and barren land I’ve seen in the country. It got progressively darker but then started to rain. As a result, any chances I might have had to see stars from the middle of a Dark Skies zone were soon pretty much gone. Dang... I arrived in the town of Lake Tekapo at around 1740 and located my overnight accommodations, Tailor Made Tekapo Hostel. However, I didn’t find any staff - fortunately, some keys were waiting for me there and another lodger helped me a little to follow the "late check-in" process. In the end, I found my nice little room OK. When I went into the kitchen and common area, absolutely nobody (there were like 10 people there) responded to my "hello." I was quite surprised because I've met a lot of nice people on my trip. It’s possible that the other guests are not from New Zealand and may not even speak English but I was still surprised. Oh well... Since I didn’t have any groceries to cook for dinner anyway, I went into the town center to try to find a restaurant. Several were only open for breakfast and lunch and the others had predominantly Asian cuisine. In the end (1825), I settled for a pseudo-grill (Tea Cha Pearl) that featured a menu of fried food. I decided to try the Hoki (fried fish) and some chips (fries). I added a mint shake to my order and then watched, with fascination, as the young lady (owner?) prepared my unique meal. After eating in the restaurant, I explored the area near the waterfront. As my Christchurch shuttle driver had told me on the first day in the country, Lake Tekapo is a dark town and I could barely see where I was going. Fortunately, I didn't fall or run into anything! One disappointing thing was that I’d specifically chosen an overnight stay in Lake Tekapo because it was in the middle of a Dark Skies Project - unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate for stargazing. I’ll have to return for another chance... After the Recce walk, I retreated to my room at the hostel. For the rest of the evening, I read, relaxed and dried clothing. Heading to sleep at 2200, I felt glad that I'd made the change to my plans and detoured to Aoraki / Mount Cook!
