Mt. Cook, 2023

Our next stop after Tekapo was Mt. Cook/Aoraki national park, New Zealand's great mountain, which we visited in 2014 and again in 2018. As in previous years, we spent a couple nights at the DOC campground there and again did the Hooker Valley trail hike, often billed as NZ's finest day hike. For us, it was a final tune-up for our impending fourth Rob Roy Glacier hike near Mt. Aspiring.

At the visitor center, a helpful model of the environs; the thing to
note is the blue on the horizon...that's the Tasman Sea, which is probably
not 15 miles from the mountain; to get to the nearest coast town on that
side, Bruce Bay, however, you'd have to drive some 250 miles; much of
the South Island is that kind of "can't get there from here" sort of place

A superb visitor center, featuring all sorts of geological,
historical, animal, vegetable, and other exhibits; here,
the local bugs, from sub-montane to alpine

Well-attired mountaineer of yesteryear; actually,

I had an Harris tweed outfit much like this that

I wore while working at the Board of Regents in Ohio;

minus the leggings and boots; also I wore a brown

paisley tie...

Not what I wore to Tiki parties in that era

Many historical pix, not least several of Sir
Edmund Hillary climbing Mt. Cook; the Hillary
Alpine Center, which we visited in 2014, is next door;
what's of interest here is the braided climbing rope...

An example of which was in the visitor center; but no one could
explain to us its use, history, whatever; the ice axes are all Stubai
models, like the one I lost on Warbonnet Peak...a Stubai Nanga
Parbat...seen it?

Virtually the same campsite as in 2018

Vicki on swing bridge #1; what's unusual here is that this is the
most popular day hike in New Zealand, and there is no one else
in the frame; there were hundreds on the trail nonetheless

Rock glacier?

Real glaciers hanging in the surrounding peaks

Many views approaching Mt. Cook

Hooker Glacier in the distance and Hooker Lake (lower bits of 
glaciers are often covered in centuries of rockfall...

Complete with icebergs

Hanging glaciers, waterfalls, all around

A piece of ice from the lake melts into the shape
of the South Island

Up closer of the glacier; no calving while we were there; we've
watched glaciers in Canada, Alaska, Iceland, Norway, the Alps, Nepal,
here...if you want to see calving, there's nothing like Pietro Moreno in
Argentina

Beautiful, formidable mountain

It got down into the mid-40s in the campground our second night
there, and we were glad to move on...it's still summer here

Lake Tekapo, 2023

After Kaikoura, we pressed on, in our leisurely way, getting as far as the the outskirts of Christchurch and an overnight at Finnegan's Tavern, in Prebblefield...our first pub stay in a while, and Irish rather than English. The day next we drove on toward Mr. Cook with our usual stop at Lake Tekapo and its Lake's Edge holiday park. After walking a bit of the shore and town, we set out to climb Mt John, as in previous years, and later we walked the shore well past town to experience the dark skies that Lake Tekapo offers.

Lake Tekapo, one of a series of huge finger lakes emanating 
from the Southern Alps

Have a campground reservation if you're planning on going there via RV

Major tour bus attraction...Our Lady of the Lake or somesuch;
no funny faces

The town/shore walk features a sort of "stations of the planets"
signage, reflecting the town's "dark sky" status

Victorian telescope that used to be up in the observatory on Mt. John

On our attempted ascent of Mt. John

As the trail began to climb, we decided to get the rest of our 10k steps
that evening under the dark skies

Much later...setting forth along the shore

We got to see the Milky Way in stunning brilliance,
seriously, and even a shooting star; the pix weren't
so great; this, I swear, is the Southern Cross

Kaikoura And Its Dusky Dolphins; Or, Don't Call Me Ishmael

Kaikoura is on the Pacific side of the South Island and is best known for its whale-watching cruises, a Maori enterprise. There are also dolphin- and albatross-watching cruises. In 2014, driving just south of Kaikoura, we stopped at a turn-out and watched the dolphins parade by for half an hour or so, just a couple hundred yards off shore. I guess we noticed the accompanying boats, but our main interest was the dolphins--dusky dolphins, a smaller breed--and their unbelievable aerial antics. I did a video of them and posted it to my YouTube channel, "stupid porpoise tricks off Kaikoura." LSS is that Rebecca and family did the dolphin cruise in 2019 and recommended it, and we figured it would be interesting to see it all closer up. Dolphins Encounters takes 2 or 3 boats--20-30 people each--out every day, at 5:30AM, 8:30, and 12:30PM sailings. Most people apparently are in it to swim with the dolphins. Wet-suits and other paraphernalia are provided, and they really do this. With little interest in fraternizing with porpoises, we signed on merely as spectators.

The bay at Kaikoura...atop a vast submarine canyon

Lined with great old Norfolk Island Pines; a New Zealand thing

Kaioura suffered a terrible 7.8 earthquake in 2016--the land around
the bay rose more than 2 meters; when we visited in 2018, it appeared
that the art deco Mayfair theater might be a victim; but it has been strengthened
and reinforced and is back in business

The bay just outside the Dolphin Encounters offices...according to
the staff, that's an Orca nosing around at high tide, looking for rays,
sharks, porpoises, any bite-size morning snacks...

On the boat, me in my captain's hat, of course, saying things like
"avast!" and "abaft the beam" and "steady as you go"; it was a very 
light swell that day, and I did fine

Vicki, looking out

The deal is pretty much like old-time submarine tactics...you spot
your prey, note its bearing and speed, do an end-around to get ahead
of it, dive, or maybe not, then attack

Attacking here means launching your swimmers into the approaching
dolphin convoy; this is repeated two or three times or until everyone
has had enough 

The boat's skipper/cruise director shouts directions to the swimmers;
or maybe to the porpoises?

I suppose swimming with porpoises must have some appeal, to some
people; apparently quite a few people; to us, it's mostly about the
stupid porpoise tricks, the jumps, flips, backward flips, double-flips,
triple lutzes, quadruple axels, etc.

Our wolf pack that day consisted of two boats; there's our companion

Action scene; where, you ask, is the Orca seen earlier in the bay?
Still in the bay, we were assured, could not possibly swim all the
way down here...and what of his pod and the others that inhabit
these waters...we wondered...

Mostly we did videos--stills convey little of what's going on
or what's of interest--but here's a good still of a backward flip;
the videos will be posted on YouTube some day

Much of what you see from the boat; the swimmers that day faced
very murky water from the previous day's rains and complained of
being groped and jostled by unseen and unseeing porpoises

Another good jump; do check out the 2014 video; it's a hoot!

Back at our campsite that evening, after a walk and nice fish 'n chips
dinner...snow in the mountains just west of Kaikoura; winter is coming