Mount Cook Mania

After our skydiving adventure on Friday, Zack and I drove up the East side of the South Island to spend the night near Mount Cook. We had seen glimpses of this mountainous region when we were on the West side near the glaciers, but the view was much better from here. This strange round cloud encircled the peak as the sun went down while we were driving. When we reached our campsite, the view of the mountains was even more amazing.

On Saturday morning, we drove to Mount Cook National Park to do a short hike. It was a gorgeous, sunny day, so we were able to get some good pictures. As seen in the glaciers, the snow atop these mountains had a cool blue tint to it.

I loved the reflection of the mountains in this random pond!

We weren't able to hike for long, because we still had a four hour drive to Christchurch to drop off our campervan before closing time. But we didn't mind the drive, because we got to pass by incredibly blue water like that seen here in Lake Pukaki. The color was truly unreal.








The Church of the Good Shepherd on Lake Tekapo is one of the most photographed in New Zealand, so we made a quick stop there to join the many tourists getting pictures.

Then it was off to Christchurch to say goodbye to our beloved Jucy campervan (post about that coming) and head to the airport to leave New Zealand. Boo!

Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers

On December 28, we spent the day exploring the two most accessible glaciers in New Zealand. We were hoping to do some ice climbing, but one glacier company wasn't running trips anymore and the other didn't have room for both of us (even though I tried to book over a month in advance). We considered doing a guided hike instead, but we figured since we had spent plenty of time exploring St. Mary's Glacier in Colorado ourselves, that we didn't need to spend our money on that kind of trip, though lots of people say they're awesome (you're not allowed on the glacier without a guide). Anyway, we first visited Franz Josef Glacier, where there was a 45 minute hike to get near the face of it. This picture shows our view near the start of the walk.

Along the way, there were massive waterfalls to enjoy and a strangely colored gray river leading out from the glacier. I'm standing next to the waterfall in the picture below, so that may give you an idea of its size, and that doesn't even include the upper part of it!

When we got closer to the glacier, I was struck by the blue hues in the ice. I've never seen anything like that in snow, and it looked really cool (ha-literally!).

We, um, sort of snuck under a barrier rope to walk farther along the path to get closer to the glacier. To be fair, lots of other people did it too (I know, I know), but that included a guided glacier group, so I knew it couldn't be that dangerous. That meant we got to see this ice cave and got a much better view of the blue hued glacier.

A nice, older California couple took this picture, and we ended up walking all the way back to the parking lot with them, chatting the whole time. They were traveling around the South Island in the opposite direction as us, so it was fun to swap stories about what we'd seen and where to go.

Then it was time to head to Fox Glacier, only thirty minutes away from Franz Josef. On the way, we stopped at Lake Matheson, hoping for some good pictures of snowy Mount Cook reflected in the lake. No such luck, but when the clouds parted for a brief moment, I did get a glimpse of the big mountain we would see later in our trip from the other side.

When we got to Fox Glacier, we saw that it would have been another walk of over an hour to get close to the face of it, so we decided to just see what we could see from some lookout points and call it good. It seemed pretty similar to Franz Josef in that there were waterfalls in the nearby area, blue hues in the ice, and a long walk to get near it. There was this funky pond (pictured here) with bright green and blue colors in it that was kind of unique.

Fox Glacier

After our time at the glaciers, we had a three hour drive to Wanaka, where we would spend the night. More on Wanaka tomorrow!

West Coast Wonders

Driving along the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island is spectacular! We stayed near a seal colony on the night of December 26, and we checked it out on the morning of the 27th. Then we made our way from Westport down to the Franz Josef glacier, stopping at several points along the way to check out the scenery.

In Greymouth, we stopped at the famous Monteith Brewery and did a beer and cider tasting tray much like we did in Nelson. You see the Monteith brand everywhere in New Zealand, so it was cool to visit the actual brewery.

We did a short hike at the Truman Track, which went through the woods and led to a cool beach with this overhang ledge thing. The landscapes along the West coast are so varied...beach, forest, rivers, farmland, rocks, etc.

In a small town called Hoktika, we stopped and each bought ourselves a jade necklace. New Zealand jade is kind of a big deal, especially in that little town. Can you spot Zack's necklace in a picture above?

As we continued our drive, we were treated to a spectacular sunset. It happened to coincide with the exact moment we passed by this unbelievably blue water. I have not altered the color in the picture below, and the photograph doesn't even do it justice. It looked fake.

The West coast was truly full of wonders, and tomorrow I'll have a post about one awesome place in particular that I haven't mentioned yet. Lots more to come!

Sporting our new jade necklaces and loving the blue water!