Clay Cliffs Of Omarama

We stopped to see the clay cliffs--sort of a New Zealand badlands--in 2014, and thought they might have been where the Dimholt scenes from LOTR were shot. Not so. In 2018, we had the good sense to drive right by them. They actually are more impressive at a distance. On the North Island, we'll visit the Putangirua Pinnacles. Toward the end of February.

Alpine Lavender Farm

I've started a folder on the quaint, the curious, and the quirky in New Zealand. It will be a large folder, and the lavender farm might yet figure in it, but it warrants its own little post. The farm, such as it is, is in high country, on the road to Mt. Cook, miles and miles from anything, just there by itself. Of course there is a gift shoppe and a food trailer where you can buy lavender ice cream, etc. We've seen lots of lavender farms, mostly in France, but not like this.

Tastes like soap?

Someone else's photo...winner of an annual photo contest they
do here

Farewell, Aoraki

January 22nd was an all-day rain at Mt. Cook, with high winds too. We decided it was a good day to simply read, laze, blog, what have you. The remaining hikes in the area we had not already done were both step-climbs: stairs the DOC put in years ago up to tarns above the valley, one 1800 steps, the other, 1500 steps. January 23rd was a sunny day, and we pondered doing one of the tarns hikes, mostly to see the glaciers closer-up. But climbing such staircases seemed a poor idea for Vicki's knees, also descending them, and we decided to move on again, now toward Wanaka, Mt. Aspiring National Park, and the Rob Roy glacier hike we love.

Amazing to me how many people went hiking despite the rain;
I guess maybe they had deadline issues

Next day, before we left, Rooby is just visible on the left

Glacier-view from the Whitehorse campground

Thus

Last look toward Mt. Sefton and the area

Aoraki's Hooker Valley

Sunday dawned sunny and warm, and so we decided to do the Hooker Valley trail, often billed as New Zealand's finest day-hike, and therefore in the running for finest day-hike world-wide. As the fella says. The trail goes 5k up the valley to Hooker Lake, into which spills a glacier falling from Mt. Cook itself. On a good day, it would be hard to beat. The views of Mt. Cook as well as the glaciers hanging off Mt. Sefton are stupendous.

Not far down the trail, hanging glaciers and a tarn

Aoraki--Mt. Cook--at the head of the valley, its summit in the
clouds

Ever-interesting New Zealand clouds--at the intersection of the
maritime and the alpine, in the thick of the Roaring Forties
(latitude)

Imagine my surprise when I put my glasses back on...

At trail's end

Lake and glacier

Thus

A solitary iceberg at the end of the lake

Heading back...hanging glaciers

Vicki on one of the several suspension bridges

Looking back to Mt. Cook

The clouds have parted!

Affording a good view of the summit (right of center)

In the distance, now many miles from the mountain, Lake Pukaki

Back at our campsite, first use of our Nemo
shower...a success that will extend our feedom-
camping ways!

Approaching Mt. Cook

From Lake Tekapo we drove on to Mt. Cook village and the DOC White Horse campground there, where we would spend the next few nights.

After some miles, you round a bend and there, above Lake Pukaki,
wreathed in glaciers, is Mt. Cook, the greatest of the Southern Alps

Upper bits: what appears to be the summit, on the right, is actually
the beginning of a kilometer-long knife-edge leading to the summit,
the bump in the middle (click to enlarge)

Many glaciers emanate from Mt. Cook, most famously the Franz
Josef and Fox glaciers, on the west side; here, another descends
nearly to the valley floor

The White Horse campground sits below Mt. Sefton and a whole
line of hanging glaciers

Thus

Thus

And thus

All falling under enveloping clouds as the day proceeded; we'd
be marching right past them the next day as we hiked Hooker
Valley

Lake Tekapo And Ascent Of Mt. St. John

We proceeded on to the hamlet of Lake Tekapo, located at the south end of the immense and beautiful alpine lake, and spent the night at the holiday park there (Kiwi for campground). Unless you're a boatie, there is little to do here except walk the two block tourist area, rest, reorganize, do the wash, shower, and climb nearby Mt. St. John, all of which we did. Then you drive on toward Wanaka and Queenstown or up to Mt. Cook, which we also did. Interestingly, we stayed at this same holiday park in Lake Tekapo in 2014, almost the same day of the year, and it was 30 degrees F that night (in a tent!), with a gale the next morning. This time it was sunny and warm, temps in the 70s. Mt. St. John is a 300m climb with an university observatory and cafe on the summit.

Mt. St. John's, observatories, etc.

Rock love seat on the trail up Mt. St. John's

A bit of the observatory campus with the bigger Southern Alps
in the background

Looking up the expanse of Lake Tekapo

The village of Lake Tekapo

Your are here

Another big lake on the other side, looking toward Mt. Cook

Us, there

After the descent, and some provisioning at the excellent Four Square in Lake
Tekapo, we drove 15+k up the corrugated gravel east-side road--memories of
Namibia!--and free-camped by the lake

Thus

And enjoyed a great Kiwi sunset

It was a moon-less and nearly cloud-less night, and we stayed up well past our
usual bed-time to see the southern sky; alas, the photo does not at all convey what
we saw, pretty much the best night sky ever, for us