Days 3 - Journey to NZ's highest mountain- Mount Cook National Park!
 
Awaking to the cold, we heard the unfamiliar sound of RAIN on the van; the weather unfortunately had turned just a day after we had arrived ...bugger! We did awake though to gorgeous autumnal colours in our field accompanied by low cloud on the rolling hills around. Heading out we really did think our camper had been airlifted back to England in the night! Passing the usual sheep/cows staring at the van we headed through the very friendly town of Fairlie and turned onto highway 8 towards the infamous Lake Tekapo! Despite the pouring rain and low cloud hiding the mountain back drop, the turquoise water was striking and the perfect spot for......PORRIDGE! Another porridge spot to add to our list....We then learnt the art of how heavy our camper actually is as we mud skidded our way along the lake side road, realising we may actually end up IN the lake we joined the proper highway and headed up the summit of what is known as the star gazing 'Mt Johns Observatory.' Described in the book as 'having 360 degree panoramic views of the Mackenzie County, Southern Alps and Mount Cook', we reached the top to blustering freezing cold wind and rain and not a thing in sight!!! Hope this wasn't the sign of things to come ...... Despite the sudden change in weather and the 2 degree temperatures forecast, we both still felt that campervanning around NZ in the winter was still an amazing thing to do, you may not get the views but you have most of the country to yourselves and the remoteness was just incredible already.
 
Driving down we saw some amazing turquoise views of Lake Takepo and after a detour to Lake Alexandra followed by another traffic jam, this time cows, we headed towards Lake Pukaki and the Mount Cook lookout - Mt Cook being New Zealand's highest peak at 3755m! Turning the corner to come across the lake was just magnificent, the iridescent turquoise waters were luminous in quality, it really was breath-taking, a sight we really won't ever forget! Despite Mt Cook being in cloud / nowhere to be seen at the end of the lake, eating lunch on the waters edge was yet again another beauty of the camper, you can have a cuppa in the most incredible places!! With snow forecast and possible road closures we followed the lakes edge towards Mount Cook, taking even mores stunning pictures of the colours and misty Ben Ohau Range on our right . By now the snow was starting to fall and the mountains looked like someone had dusted them with icing sugar.....but still no Mount Cook! VERY reminiscent of a few other worldly mountains that seem to hide every time we arrive in the country! Snow quite heavy now on arriving at the remote Mt Cook village, we took the track towards the Tasman Glacier following the jumble of rocks and boulders, a result of the glaciers retreat, then decided that it was time to return back to our camp spot on the lake where we hooked up for the night, mastered the art of showering in our 1mx1m cubicle, drank more of NZ's finest 'country box wine', learned that the camper does have room for a mini disco, then went to bed hoping that we would not be completely snowbound so that in the morning we could get out and hike in the magnificent Mount Cook valley! Bon nuit...
 
Day 4 - Hike to the Hooker and Tasman Glaciers and at last......Mount Cook!
 
Pulling back the curtain of our small living space we saw that luckily we hadn't been snowed in, so after more of Pam's Porridge (plus banana, the new version!), we donned our hiking gear for cold snowy weather and set off in the camper to the Mt Cook National Park . The cloud sadly was still very low but whilst driving we did start to see a few small white mountain peaks and the stunning Tasman Glacier peeping through....this only made us realise even more though how amazing the view must be and what we were missing! Deep down we both felt disappointed but decided that a hike with no views in this glorious area/fresh air was still definitely worth it....little did we know what it would finally turn out to be! Turning off towards our destination, 'Hooker Glacier,' Mount Sefton, fully laden with fresh snow, dominated the landscape and by all accounts it was the start of a pretty breath-taking day....
 
All fleeced up in about 6 degrees we set off on route to walk up the Hooker Valley to the infamous but heavily retreated Hooker Glacier. On turning the first corner we came upon Mueller lake, a stunning glacial lake, milky turquoise in colour with small floating ice bergs upon it, it was just fantastic and we were so pleased to at last to be experiencing the outstanding beauty that is the Mount Cook National Park!! The start of the Mount Cook range could clearly be seen now amongst the clouds, just perfect .
 
We then headed on over the first then second suspension bridge within the valley. The river now was a milky grey, running fast, surrounded by the Granite Mountains on either side. We then heard an almighty crash and realised that an avalanche had occurred amongst the Mt Cook Peaks, amazing to hear but thank god it was nowhere near us!! Carrying on, after a few snowball fights from the fresh snow that had lain that night, we were just turning a corner round the side of Mount Wakefield and I saw a glimpse in the distance of a jagged ice peak that I remembered so well from my last visit, Mount Cook!!! It was JUST breathtaking to see and although at this point it had clouds covering most of it, we could see that the sun was trying to shine and the potential for it to clear and for blue sky could be possible, everything was crossed......Just seeing the peak was magical in itself though and we both felt so exhilarated at what we were doing, it was unbelievable and it just got better as I hurriedly ran ahead of Adam to see if I could see more!! As we headed up towards the glacier, the clouds started to clear and New Zealand's highest glacial mountain totally covered in fresh snow loomed in front of us, it was just unreal! Behind us was dense cloud and you couldn't see a thing, yet just in front and above us was a clear blue opening allowing the mountain to expose itself fully, we were very lucky! On reaching the Hooker Glacier, the lake was iced over and now you could see the blue glacial ice through the jagged slopes of Mount Cook . To be there in the valley, stood on fresh powered snow, surrounded by jagged glacial mountains next to the lake and hardly anyone around was just one of those unique life time experiences, it was breathtaking! An elderly couple who had been up there all day said that it had been in cloud all day until now, thank god we had that lie in and set off late!! One other hiker summed it up too as he passed us, 'perfect day for it or what!' I think everyone was so amazed of the views we got considering still from the road, you could see nothing except low cloud and a grey sky and would have no idea that Mount Cook and the glacier were as clear as day amongst this!
 
After a bite to eat in the snow by the side of the lake and a few million pictures, we headed back down the valley and heard another crash, then as we looked up, we witnessed an avalanche occurring, it was pretty scary but fantastic to watch and the delay in the crash that occurred from it starting to the ice hitting the valley below was pretty mind blowing to say the least! What a day we were having ....
 
After passing the memorial dedicated to all those that had died climbing Mt Cook (so sad to read the many plaques of those the mountain had taken as recent as 2003), the glacial valley ahead now was clearer and in the distance you could see the bright turquoise colour of Pukaki lake. Such a stunning country to be in the Southern Alps with it almost to ourselves......
 
Following a hearty meal of glorious cup-a-soup and with enough daylight left to take in our second glacier of the day we set off down the track to the Tasman Glacier. The road less travelled might well describe the route to the start of the hike rutted and unsealed our van bounced its way along at a steady 30km/hour. Not really sure what to expect once we started on the track we were hopeful. On the way there the weather had remained clear and the views of the glacier and surrounding mountains were dramatic. Climbing up the path the Blue Lakes appeared on our left although no longer blue more a green algae sort of colour now . At the top it's very difficult to describe the scene that awaits you it is remarkable - for those of you that remember Blake 7 it could be a distant planets landscape that the team have landed on. Below us a dirty grey soup lake full of boulders and icebergs stretched out to our left to the front wall of the Tasman Glacier. It is quite unlike anything I have ever seen and probably never will again. It is a bleak environment you feel incredibly isolated there is this horseshoe of imposing mountains on your left and then the valley out to the right going on for miles.
 
Suitably impressed with our days adventures it was time to head home well actually find a side of the road out the way and feast on fish finger sandwiches. After leaving the national park we headed south towards Twizel not pronounced Twizzle as the nice policeman who stopped us on the highway told me. Apparently our headlights look a bit low! After finding the waste dump site for our used water etc it was onto Lake Oahu and a night spent resting by the lake before heading on tomorrow for Te Anu. Nik and I seem to make a habit of turning up to campsites in the dark not knowing where we are going and what we will find. The bonus of this is that waking up the next morning you never know what is outside the window. Finding the site at Lake Oahu was relatively simple but if Nik had been driving she openly admitted we would have driven down the nearest slope and ended up in the lake. Having negotiated various trees dead ends and run a scouting mission in the dark your dynamic duo settled upon a spot we thought was out of the way and flat.