Heading South, Part 2 - Hooker Valley Track

We had a quick stop over at Lake Tekapo

then Lake Pukaki – who would be able to pass by waters with such an alluring brilliant blue colour? There were so many tourists here but we still managed to get some fairly good photos. Glaciers were once here and when they receded they ground the rock causing fine particles which makes the beautiful blue colour.

The holiday park cabin in Omarama was cute and spacious and we could see the mountains in the not so far distance. That night we had a few drinks at the local pub but I was dismayed to see a cow’s head staring down at me from the wall. I looked elsewhere and was greeted by a stag, a goat and a sheep. We were definitely in farmers’ territory.

The next morning we set off for the village at Mount Cook and passed some brilliant scenery, which really could have been the set for several movies, through what is known as the Mackenzie Basin after a Scottish immigrant James Mckenzie who purportedly stole a large amount of sheep and escaped from prison after he was arrested. I've hear differing accounts of whether a judge pardoned because he was wrongly accused or just because they couldn't contain him in prison!

There were some cool looking cloud shapes – a hand, can you see it? 

And a meteorite hurtling down to Earth.

Will had researched the Hooker Valley Glacier track and thought it looked relatively easy with no steep climbs. The book had said 3 hour return journey but that you could stop at any point and just turn back. We didn’t speak to each other about it but seemed to mutually agree that we just couldn’t turn back. Every step brought us more breathtaking views and the weather was bright and sunny. It sounds silly but I couldn't believe we were in the scenery - it looked like something I'd only seen out of a travel book or on the tv. Words can’t really describe how amazing the feeling was to be somewhere so beautiful but hopefully the photos do it some justice.

I was taking in the flora and fauna when Will turned to me and said ‘who’s this?’ before running up to a stone and looking out over the valley. It immediately clicked as Legolas and Aragon shouting out to him ‘what do your elf eyes see?’ Every part of this walk would have made a fantastic backdrop for a movie.

We reached the glacier and the lake, which was so cold it had a couple of ice-bergs still floating in it. Although there were a lot of people it didn’t feel crowded and everyone was appreciating and marvelling at the nature all around us.

The walk had made our journey to Queenstown a lot longer but we didn’t mind in the least - how could we complain?!