Day 2. Woke up at 0600. Long drive towards mt cook. Stopped at lake tekapo and pukaki. Less the random stops for animals and super fast flowing water. A church and a salmon shop, the salmon isnt opened for public. And we reached the mt cook village for lunch. Salmon Pizza. Sourdough. Acquired taste. I thot it was not bad for pizza. But there is funny green pickle like peas which is sour tho. Tolerable to me tho my frens couldnt take it.
Den up to the hermitage. Mt cook was behind the clouds until later in the evening. Went treking up the blue lakes and tasman valley. More than an hour trek, lots of gravel and rocks. Exciting as have to constantly find ur footing, good exercise too. Breathtaking when we saw the retreating tasman glacier. If not for the hr long trek to warm our bodies up, the blood would probably froze.
Next towards hooker's valley. didnt reach there. Halfway to mueller lookout and the suspension bridge. Water volume isnt high but speedy. Brrr.
Gourmet pie for dinner at the same mountaineers' cafe at mt cook village. Hermitage cafe had closed and the buffet cost nzd 59. Buffet would be unnecessary. Left with half an hr to the skygazing activity. Power napped from 2040-2050. Without alarm clock! Jumped up. Rushed down to meet the guide at 2100.
A lecture in the planetarium. Omni theatre. Best way to conduct the astronomy lesson. But still got pple snore lo! Grp includes others from oamaru (hometown), think abt 1-2 hrs drive away. From australia, from texas and from uk. Small grp. Then coach to an unrestricted area of the mt cook airport. Really for heli or private jets. A small building and short runway in the middle of the big grassland, thats all. Guide set up the telscope and binoculars. We were issued free-size winter jacket which reached all the way to the ankles.cloudy. not great condition. But we are in the 60% that trip was not cancelled but fell out of the 25% of the 60% for great viewing condition. He has a super powerful laser beam which he used to point out the stars to us. Really recognising the horroscope constellation needs some imagination. Gave up at 2330. Back to hotel. groggy.
Day 3. Woke up at 0800. Enjoyed the clear mt cook view from the hotel balcony before we set off for queenstown at 0930. Stopped by twizel, the town of trees, marketed for milk and fruits at foursquare. 1 dollar more ex than the new world in ashburton. the petrol too. At 2.253 instead of 2.146. Then to the high country salmon farm. Tried the sashimi. Different taste and texture. Cheaper cos probably they rear it there. The salmon looked exceptionally red behind the transition lens. my glasses are forever tinted. Too much uv? Even when it is not sunny, it is dark. Ive not been looking at the right colours... And so another 2 hrs to go. More mountains in this region. The folded earth crust has the magnificence which cant be captured on film. Amazed when i saw cyclists. Campers? The highway is never ending...so where are they gg? But wow wouldnt it be great to cycle non stop amidst the mountains. As long as u got enuff food and water with u. Or maybe they can call for heli rescue.
Then to cromwell. Kenna speeding tix. No i wasnt the driver. Nzd 120. Oh well. 19Km/h above speed limit. And amazingly the cop caught us while along the highway from the oppo direction exiting to cromwell and went after us to cromwell town centre. Had lunch at a thai restaurant then went fruits shopping. The cherries season.
Finally reached queenstown after gg thru the mountainous region. Nice town centre indeed. And our hotel/apartment was the best thus far and probably for the rest of the trip. Like a penthouse with lake view. Would have taken the jetboat but the hotel jetty was submerged. N even agreeing to go to town centre, the operator said not operating cos weather's bad. Soon after it rained. fated. Anyway i wasnt super gian, can leave option open for tmr afternoon. Temp was terrible tho. They thot i was crazy to go for an after-dinner stroll next to the lake. Dinner was ferg's burger. Seriously huge, bigger than sg's carl's junior before it was downsized. Well they insisted on having one each. really yummy. No wonder the long queue at the small shop.
