Sunday, October 14th
We headed out of Wanaka (which we discovered is pronounced Wan’-uh-kah). The drive over Lindis pass to Aoraki/Mount Cook was gorgeous. Here are some highlights
We are staying in the Hermitage hotel, nestled right in the mountains
We have a balcony and it feels like we can practically reach out and touch Aoraki.
We went for a suggested walk right behind the hotel. After climbing a lot of rugged stairs the track disappeared into some dense woods. So we hopped in the car and drove to the trailhead for the Glacier View/Blue Pools walk. Tom took the many stairs up to the glacier view and I followed the track to the Blue Pools. Do you notice anything odd about this blue pool?
When the Blue Pools were named they were fed by glaciers. However (thank you global warming) the glaciers that fed the pools have receded and so the pools now are filled with just rain water which makes them warmer and they now contain algae which makes them green. Regardless of color, I had this little piece of paradise all to myself for quite a while.
Tom’s climb of hundreds of stairs provided views of a real glacial lake, complete with icebergs. If you look closely you can see a couple of pontoon boats in the lake. For about $120 you can take a bus from the hotel to the car park, walk a mile to the lake and then take a pontoon boat out on the lake to touch an iceberg. For $0 and a little more climbing on my walk I got everything except the boat ride.
Monday, October 15th
We woke to a 0 degree C but absolutely gorgeous day. With a lunch packed by the hotel loaded into Tom’s backpack, we set off on the Hooker Valley track walk. 10 km round trip, easy track with moderate inclines. It got so hot that we were down to a single layer and many people were out in shorts. Great scenery along the way.
We heard very frequent avalanche rumbles and saw several
There are three swing bridges along the track but we are old hands at the swing bridges now.
The track ends at a terminal glacier at the base of Mount Hooker.
All I can say is wow. 10k is a long walk but it sure was worth it!