Every week of our trip has been filled with amazing experiences or fantastic locations and our time in Tekapo and Aoraki/Mount Cook has not disappointed either. We've gone from the dawn of time to the far reaches of the universe in just a few days.
We headed for Lake Tekapo for one main reason and that was to see the stars like never before. Tekapo is a "dark star reserve", meaning that there is very little light pollution and lots of clear nights. There is an observatory at the top of Mount John on the lake's western shore and, after being put off by lots of clouds on Tuesday when we arrived, we booked in for a tour on Wednesday night.
The only uncertainty was the weather. I spent most of Wednesday looking up at the sky and wishing I was an expert meteorologist... the clouds were clearing, the clouds were coming back, what was the wind doing, did the location/position of the moon make any difference? I think "a bag of nerves" would be the best description for my state of mind, only partially eased by a crushing victory at the brilliantly located and designed Tekapo mini-golf course (series levelled at 2 each) and some very tasty cinnamon roles from the cafe next door.
As the time for the tour came closer, nerves grew even more. To my untrained eyes, the sky looked pretty clear but there were clouds at the northern end of the lake causing us to worry. The snowy peaks of the Southern Alps that had been visible on Tuesday were nowhere to be seen by Wednesday evening. Time ticked round slowly, with the tour not starting until 9.30pm. We checked in at the tour centre at about 8 to see if there was news... things were looking ok, but there were some wind/clouds causing concern and a final decision wouldn't be made until 9.15pm. If it's too windy, you're cant go up the observatory; if it's cloudy, you can't see stars! We went for a walk and came back again just after 9. When the phone finally rang in the office, you could see everyone holding their breath. Will we get to see the stars? With much relief the answer was "yes", although the clouds coming down the lake were still a concern. We just had to hope the clouds moved slowly. It was time to wrap up warm and head to the top of Mount John.
From start to finish, it was amazing. As our eyes adjusted to the darkness at the summit, the whole of the night sky revealed itself brightly. The guides showed us some of the more easily recongised constellations such as Orion (upside down in the Southern Hemisphere) and the Southern Cross (not visible at all up north). The Milky Way was so clear it was like looking at the most perfect astro-photograph. We could even pick up the Magellan Clouds with the naked eye... learning little tricks for making these far distant galaxies stand out in the darkness. We saw Jupiter and looked at the bright colours of the Jewel Box and the million or so stars contained with the globular cluster 47 Tucanae through the telescopes. My highlight though was looking at the Tarantula Nebula through one of the most powerful telescopes... it's a star forming region 1,000 light years across and just beautiful. By the time it was time to come away, my neck was aching from looking up constantly, and of course saying "wow" quite a lot.
After the excitement of Wednesday, we had another great day on Thursday with a visit from Andy (last seen at Dunedin parkrun). He brought us pies from the best pie shop in the district (located in Fairlie), which we earned by walking up Mount John, a climb of about 300 metres from the lakeshore, then we went on a drive around the local area, taking in the Salmon Farm just about Twizel and the spectacular scenery at Lake Ohau. Sadly, the clouds weren't playing fair so we couldn't see up to Mount Cook but the reflections in the still waters of the lake were pretty impressive.
On Friday (the seventh anniversary of our first meeting), we explored the local area with a run up to Cowan's Hill before taking part in what seemed to be the most common activity at Lake Tekapo... taking pictures of the Church of the Good Shepherd on the lake shore. It's a small stone built church which seems to attract every tour bus and passing motorist. In all the times we walked past during our stay, we never saw the church unvisited. There were frequently large numbers of people all bustling round outside... Taking a photo without anyone else in shot proved impossible!
On our final afternoon in Tekapo, we headed to the hot springs for a lazy afternoon in the pools with bath-like temperatures. Very relaxing it was too.
Early on Saturday, we travelled by bus down to Twizel and then up the side of Lake Pukaki into the Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park. One of the highlights of the journey was watching Falcons swooping down low through the mountain passes and along the valley. The clouds were down low over the mountains as we arrived in Mount Cook Village - no mountains, glaciers or snow visible. Over the course of the morning, small breaks in the cloud teased us, giving glimpse on what would be visible on a clear day. We headed out on a walk to Kea Point, hoping the clouds would lift. As we sat down to eat our picnic lunch, the sky cleared and the mountains and hanging glaciers were revealed.
We could hear loud "bangs" reverberating through the valleys - the sound of snow and ice shifting high up on the glacial peaks of Mount Sefton and along the Mueller Glacier. Aoraki / Mount Cook slowly came into view as well - NZ's highest mountain, the training ground of Sir Edmund Hillary and the centrepiece of the glacially formed Southern Alps. As the light and clouds changed through the afternoon, we spent a very lovely couple of hours exploring this beautiful landscape. We didn't quite have the climbing gear to reach the snow line but it was wonderful to be in this beautiful location.
On the anniversary of our first date in Wellington, we decided to treat ourselves to the Alpine Carvery at the Hermitage Hotel - a little bit more upmarket than Burger King! Looking out over Mount Cook, drinking cocktails and enjoying an amazing dinner... priceless!
On Sunday, the treats continued as we headed out for a cruise amongst the icebergs on glacial Lake Tasman - it's at the end of the Tasman Glacier and sits in the shadow of Mount Cook. The lake is evidence of the retreating Tasman Glacier and has only formed in the last 50 fifty years. The glacier continues to recede (lots of discussions about global warming and the impact of human intervention) and icebergs break off the glacier face at regular intervals. It was a strange experience to cruise amongst ice, which could have been compacted into the glacier hundreds of years previously. The glacier face itself was a confusing optical illusion... from the farthest point of the lake, it looked like a relatively straight wall of ice. As we got nearer, we could that it's distance from us varied by several hundred metres. The boats don't go close to glacier face - it is unpredictable and any sub-surface ice is basically invisible.
This was a real highlight of our trip and had whetted our appetite for more glacier exploring next week at Fox Glacier. We spent the rest of the day competing our exploration of the Sir Edmund Hillary museum at the Hermitage (the grand alpine style hotel). We'd already watched the 3-D extravaganza on the origins of Aoraki / Mount Cook - combining Maori legends and geology - but also enjoyed an exhibit on the first mountaineers to conquer Aoraki, a video on NZ's prehistoric patch and the development of its strange non-flying bird life, as well as lots of Everest stories connected with Hillary. A great little museum to explore after a couple of days of extraordinary fresh air!
As light faded, we said goodbye to Aoraki / Mount Cook and packed our bags to get ready for an early morning departure. By the next morning, the clouds were back and snow down to 1,000 metres has been forecast. The view may look very different tomorrow.
Happy Travels
Liz T
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