Oamaru

For us, the chief attraction of Oamaru was its limestone architecture--some interesting neo-classical stuff--but we found much else of interest too. Oamaru is on the east coast of the South Island, about half-way down, an older colonial settlement but with much earlier Maori habitation too. We walked about for an hour or two, then moved on, before I was really ready. The old time and tide thing, and the Moeraki Boulders...

The local limestone--Oamaru stone--lent itself to architects,
builders, sculptors, and others in the latter 19th century

Library

Interesting inscription

Forests of acanthus leaves...lots of the buildings had
Corinthian columns

Thus

More ornate limestone

More than a few of the Oamaruvians (!) were of interest
too

Here we learned much about the advanced state of home-
brewing and -distilling in New Zealand

Thus

But Steampunk (look it up) was our real
discovery in Oamaru ("that's news to me"
department)

Thus

And thus

Very interesting little town...but we didn't want to miss the
boulders at low tide, and had to move on...

Takiroa Rock Art

Next morning we continued southeast toward the coast and Oamaru (not Omarama), stopping to examine the Maori rock art at Takiroa. OK, it's not Lascaux, and certainly not very old, but nonetheless interesting. After ascertaining there was no cafe nor gift shoppe, we drove on.

Limestone cliff now; we'll see much more limestone in Oamaru

Bird (on left)

Sea serpent

Your guess...

See below for interpretation

More reminiscent of the rock art we saw in Scandinavia...but
much younger

Clay Cliffs of Omarama

We drove on from Mt. Cook, south, through Twizel (not as in Twizzlers), stopping at the so-called Clay Cliffs, on the Ahuriri River. The Clay Cliffs are billed as similar to the American Badlands. They are indeed similar, if quite limited in extent. Sensing that there would be no Wall Drug nor jackalopes, not even a Corn Palace, not even a rattlesnake, we snapped a few pix and drove on, camping at a free DOC site on the river.

The beautiful, clear, fast-flowing Ahuriri--there are browns
and rainbows in them thar waters

Clay Cliffs

Closer up

Ditto

Mt. Cook, 2

We spent parts of 3 days in the Mt. Cook area, driving, hiking, visiting the museum and visitor center, watching the movies, etc. It's a pretty spectacular alpine place.

Another day, on Lake Pukaki, looking toward Mt. Cook, now
in a total white-out of wind, rain, blowing snow...

At the Hillary Alpine Center

Tenzing and Hillary, from a photo in the museum; the best
bit of the museum is the 105-minute Hillary film, his life,
narrated by no less than Ian McKellen; an equally good film,
on all aspects of Mt. Cook--geology, history, climbing
history, tourism, environmental issues, etc.--is at the
Department of Conservation visitor center; really superb

We weathered the storm--torrential rain mostly--at the Mt.
Cook backapacka

Next day...fine weather again

Mt. Cook, again

Fine enough weather for another walk, this time up to Lake
Tasman, at the end of Mt. Cook's Tasman Glacier

Thus; Lake Tasman was not there, 20-30 years ago, starting
then as a pot-hole, then melting the glacier from beneath; it's
now 2-3 kilometers in length, and growing

Closer up of lake and glacier, and icebergs

Closer up of Mt. Cook summit ridge, a horrific kilometer-
long knife-edge of snow and ice; from southeast

Thus; OK, it's not actually my photo

Us at Lake Tasman

Looking back to the huge out-wash plain leading down to
Lake Pukaki

Last look at the big mountain and it beautiful turquoise lake

Mt. Cook, 1

After Edoras we drove to a campground on Lake Tekapo, one of several very large turquoise lakes emanating from the Southern Alps. Next day we drove up to Mt. Cook, a sight we had missed on our 2008-2009 New Zealand visit (bad weather). Mt. Cook is the highest of the Southern Alps, only 12,000-something feet, but still a famous and formidable mountain...in the same range, altitude-wise, with Mt. Robson, the Grossglockner, the Eiger, etc. Anyhow, I wanted to see it and especially the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Center located in the Mt. Cook village there. Hillary—known as Sir Ed among New Zealanders—was, with the Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, the first to climb Mt. Everest, back in 1953, part of the great expedition led by Lord Hunt. Hillary had a variety of further adventures later in life, but he is best remembered for Everest and for his subsequent devotion to the Nepalese, building schools, hospitals, airfields, and so on. He is revered in Nepal as well as in New Zealand, and among mountaineers everywhere.

Lake Tekapo; similar to the Finger Lakes, it and its neighbor,
Lake Pukaki; there are huge lakes all over the South Island,
mostly east of the big mountains

Traveling with children; the twin 10-month-olds are in the
carriage

Looking up Lake Pukaki, Mt. Cook, still 20 miles or so away 

Closer

Climbers on a wall near the Village

Closer

"Big mountains make their own weather," episode #9,229

While the weather was still decent, we decided to do the
Hooker Valley day-hike, said to be New Zealand's finest

Lunch, sitting on a promontory, watching avalanches off an
adjacent mountain

One several cable bridges

Hooker Creek and afternoon weather

The goal: Hooker Glacier and Hooker Lake

Icebergs off the glacier

Thus

And thus

New Zealand daisies along the trail