The weather isn't looking particularly good, so we set off with all our fingers crossed. Today is a long drive, about 340-ish km. We hope to be there by 6:00pm if possible. After all, there will definitely be a couple of stops on the way.
The first part of our trip takes us back across the Canterbury Plains - although this time instead of being driven, I am driving. We cross the Rangitata River and reach the town of Rangitata and at the split in the road head inland toward Geraldine and then Fairlie. We then climb the Mackenzie Basin, passing through Burkes Pass and arrive at Lake Tekapo, and then Lake Pukaki.
As we were making the drive we saw lots of beautiful views. Since I was driving again, I didn't actually have a chance to take any pictures. That is, until we came over a hill and around a curve, and caught a view of Lake Pukaki. In my entire life, I don't think I have ever seen anything so stunning. And that is saying a lot, because just look at some of the things I have included in previous posts. I was awestruck, in the complete sense of that word. As I have said before, it is a shame that photographs don't do it justice. However, every time I think of that drive, I can see that picture in my head, before my eyes ... in my soul.
After Lake Pukaki, we started the final climb to Mt Cook Village, unfortunately now in the rain. When we arrived we checked into the Hermitage Hotel. The hotel was originally opened in 1884, for adventurous travelers. It has gone through several renovations (one due to fire). These accommodations are the only ones actually in the national park. Many of the guest rooms (including ours, through a very large plate glass window) have direct views of Mt Cook, and if not, all one has to do is step outside, and there it is!
Interesting side note, the parking appears to be all public parking and is apparently controlled (at least partially) by the park. When I dropped Lisa and the luggage off at an entrance to our hotel, and went to find a place to park the car, there wasn't one. Not one. I ended up having to leave the parking areas and return to the access road where I parked somewhere between one-quarter and one-half of a kilometer away from the front door. And walked up the hill in the rain to get back to where Lisa was waiting.
After checking in, we went to the restaurant which serves a buffet. There is a second restaurant on the site, but it required reservations and was a drive away. In the rain. So we went with the buffet.
View from our hotel room
Friday (1-November) was an opportunity to explore Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park. Except that it was raining all day, and Lisa was still trying to recover from not feeling well, and I didn't really want to go out into the rain hiking. Within the site, there is the Sir Edward Hillary Museum, which was quite fascinating. There is also a Planetarium there, and we attended their evening show. I'm copying the way they describe it just below. It really was all it was talked up to be; our astronomy guide was extremely knowledgeable as well as likable. Great experience!
Explore the wonders of the Southern Hemisphere night sky from the comfort of your seat in our indoor digital dome planetarium, located in the Hermitage Hotel in Aoraki/Mount Cook. Science meets entertainment as one of our astronomy guides presents an awe-inspiring visual journey through the cosmos. Learn about the Southern Cross constellation, the Milky Way galaxy, the planets and moons of our solar system, the lives and deaths of stars and the mind-blowing scale of our universe. As one of only six planetariums in New Zealand, the 8.5-metre dome screen with our state-of-the-art projection technology is perfect for viewing some of the latest images captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. As an indoor, digital experience, it doesn’t matter what the weather is doing outside – the planetarium can simulate exactly what the New Zealand night sky looks like at any time under perfect conditions!
Saturday was supposed to be our Glacier Explorer Boat Cruise, a 2 1/2 hour tour of Lake Tasman and the front edge of NZ's largest glacier. The trip is in a Zodiac boat. We were really looking forward to it, before we left for our drive to Queensland.
When we woke up it was pretty overcast but not raining much. But as the departure time for the tour approached, it was raining, then pouring, then sleeting, then snowing, all in very high winds. Of course, it was cancelled. A big disappointment about not getting to do the cruise, but if I'm honest, I wouldn't have wanted to be outside in an open boat on a freezing cold lake at the foot of a glacier. Still, definitely a reason to go back to New Zealand!
The only bright side was that we have the afternoon to get down to our final destination - Queenstown. Driving on some New Zealand roads in the dark is not always quite so appealing!
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