South Island – Aoraki/Mt Cook – Queenstown

We packed up and left early from Tekapo, in this quiet time of the morning when everyone else was still in bed the rabbits ruled the dawn world, they were everywhere, throughout the campground, bordering the road and in the fields…oh, and already freshly squashed on the roads.  The fields had rabbit netting along the boundaries and as the The Operator said, most can only go from side of the road to side of the road…its only a matter of time.  The Operator also noticed a slight wet patch by our back wheel where water had seeped in the earth overnight….he wasn’t overly concerned.

We were headed to to Aoraki/Mt Cook, the roads were big, long straights, we crossed the Tekapo canal and and rounded a corner to see Lake Pukake stretched out before us.  Rosie was a little worried that our early leaving may have been our undoing as it was still very cloudy and the sun wasnt warm enough to burn away the cloud….then around another corner and there we are, blue sky is back and the ranges look terrific.

Heading ‘up Mount Cook’ Rosie and The Operator thought we would be gunning the camper all the way, it is actually a very flat drive to the foothills and the the mountains themselves rise up out of the ground and if you want to get to them, you gotta walk them.  The mountains visitor centre is exceptional, great DOC people there to chat to and get abit of advice from.  Rosie though she would strike out on a wee jaunt to Hooker Lake much to The Operators surprise.  Rosie thought if that bus load of Japanese tourists can do it in their facemasks so can she.  The track itself is a wide fine gravel one…you could actually push a wheelchair along it, so it is not saying much really about my mountain adventure…..then again Rosie isnt one to talk up a situation…much.

This cairn is a memorial to all of the people that have been lost on Mt Cook, it started as a remembrance marker to a climbing party that were killed in an avalanche in 1914 and has been added to ever since, poignant bronze plaques are attached to every side in remembrance to someone who has not come home from an expedition.

And there she be, the snowy tip of Aoraki which means ‘Cloud Piercer’ in Maori, Australasia’s highest peak at 3775m high.  Of the 27 mountains in NZ over 3050m tall, 22 are in this park.  On Christmas Day 1884 a band of local lads first scaled the summit after attacking it via the Hooker Glacier.  The first woman to climb to the summit was in 1914. In 2013 Rosie and The Operator are walking 20mins to the start of the first epic ascent.

The walk was easy, the track was hot under the sun and you came to a beautiful viewing platform after 20 mins overlooking the Hooker Glacier and the Hooker Lake.  Stunnin,g it was really worth the easy wander.  Glacier you may say….yes there is a glacier in this picture.  The low, grey point around the back of the lake is a retreating glacier, it used to be big and white but it is now melting and retreating in stead of moving forward.  In its retreat it leaves tiny pieces of glacial gravel and the lake water is the melt.  The water is grey, from the rock flour and starts to lighten up as it goes downriver…..as it flows into Lake Pukake the turquoise colour appears as it disperses.

The Operator was keen on checking out the Tasman Glacier, we had heard that it was ‘calving,’ the ice on the face breaking off and there was icebergs floating in the glacial lake, cool or what!  We crossed a single lane bridge ‘ Gross Laden Weight 80% of Class One’  what the hell?  It looked new so I suppose it would hold us and the camper….

We drove 8 km on gravel road, this was really getting into Lord of The Rings country, majestic mountain ranges boardering dry riverbed, it sure was an impressive sight alright!  Rosie had already had her walk for the day so elected to stay inside the camper in the cool and make a cup of tea and second breakfast for The Intrepid Operator.  The walk was only specified as half an hour one in the guidebook, so nice and short.

Apparently that is the grey ribbon of glacier travelling down the hill and below is the glacier lake.

The roughed up area is the glacier…..hhmmmm…..apparently it is white underneath……there were two icebergs in the lake The Operator reported, they were the size of ice cubes.  Or, the size of a jetboat, which was parked next to it….Rosie was glad she didnt haul uphill to see this….Rosie was expecting gleaming white gigantic titanic sinking bergs glowing with mysterious inner colour in the sunlight as they slowly floated majestically by…..The Operator thinks all the others at that lookout were expecting the same thing too.

We were about to move and noticed a wet patch on the dry ground behind the wheel of the camper….the drips were coming out quite fast.  The Operator investigated and was abit puzzled, he wasnt too worried, it was clean water, he would investigate properly in Queenstown.

En route to Queenstown, our road has turned into the Lindis Pass Alpine Highway, we were  ascending towards a solid wall of hills, and they are huge hills….Rosie cant see where this is gonna let us pass through, but it did, straight through to the other side of the mountain, the other side of the mountain…you know the song, thats pretty much like it was.  Had to take a photo of the giant fruit announcing Cromwell, the peach actually looked fuzzy….Why does everyone say Manaias bread look dumb….this is only fruit….

  We are officially in Central Otago as we navigated the Kawerau Gorge, it was as hot as hell when we stopped to look at the Roaring Meg hydro scheme, man that water looked good!  The gorge is winding and close, sharp jutting out stone and minimal growth cling to the sides.  It has huge western style rocky outcrops and plenty of cowboy hills all around.  The gold mines have also started appearing.

We stopped and had a look at the AJ Hacket Bungy over the Kawerau River – it is a pretty slick operation there, they were bringing bus loads of kids in, sounds were pumping, big screens were relaying live jumping feed, a two for one bar was plying them with alcohol and then daring them to jump…it was working….they had two platforms and there was a jumper every 3 mins!  Except for the 12 year old boy….they did the countdown 4 times, gave him a pep talk and down he came, the first of many walks of shame in life….hope his dad got a refund.  By this time Rosie was so hot, The Operator was so parched we saw a sign for Arrowtown and headed there for a beer.  Pinkyfluff and The Daredevil had recommended this town to us as a must see and they were dead right, what a treasure!

 Rosie and The Operator parked outside The Fork and Tap and had a nice cold beer in the shade at an outdoor table and took 20 mins to chill….we walked the streets and then headed out to Queenstown…Dont worry, Rosie and The Operator will be back, its only 20 mins out of Queenstown and we want to explore more.

Hhhhmmmmm the leak was still leaking…..a small puddle had formed, man did stand out in the dry, dry street…..

We drove straight to the Lakeview Holiday Park, they were pretty up front about there being no lake view as the houses had all shot up around them and trees actually blocked the view….showers here were $2 as well but once again we were told in advance.  We got our site and mossied into the huge park…Rosie and The Operator could not believe it…..because of Christmas they had doubled up the sites to double the number of occupants.  Each normal site had been divided into two!  We were parked on a dry patch of earth the size of a carpark….with another camper less than a metre on either side…..and the dry patch of earth was already slowly getting wet from our drip…..

The Operator didnt even unpack, we are out of here, he said, Rosie said its Christmas Eve, where else are we going to go, we sat in the cab, cooking from the heat all over again and rang around a few places, all full.  The last place we tried had a spot, we were out of there.

Rosie went back to the office and said she had only checked in about half an hour ago and asked for refund…..Rosie wasnt expecting one but the lovely manager gave her her money back in full…he asked if it was because of the size of the site, Rosie said Yes…he nodded sagely….good on them!

 It was Rosie and The Operators lucky day, we left hell and ended up in paradise!  The Frankton Motor Camp is a family run camp about 7 min drive around the lake from central Queenstown, this is the view from our window!  We were literally 10 metres from the lakeside, under a tree for shade with plenty of space to put out our table and chairs.  What a beautiful paradise, we booked in for 2 nights and relaxed…..well not for an hour…..The Operator investigated the water leak, he had to empty our drinking water tank as the hose fitting had busted and water was leaking along the underfloor cavity of the camper and dripping down the outside of the back wheel.  Its Christmas Eve and all the shops are shut….looks like we are here till Boxing Day….could think of worse places to be stranded…..