Mount Cook, Lake Tekapo and back to Christchurch

Once we left Queenstown, we head off north again to go to Mount Cook, our last day in Queenstown was a bit rainy and the rain followed us all the way to Mount Cook. The snow on the mountains looked like it was about to fall in a massive avalanche. We could here rumbles behind the mountains, not too sure if it was an avalanche or thunder. The Old Mountaineers café was our refuge for a cup of coffee, the little café is filled with wonderful black and white photos of years gone by. It tells the story of mountaineers and there adventures in the early days of Mount Cook. As we were rained out we decided to move on very quickly after the nights camp to head back to Christchurch.

On our way we saw the spectacular Lake Pukaki and Lake Tekapo. At Lake Tekapo we enjoyed a picnic in the company of a local dog. Little Pippy seemed to love the ever changing crowd of tourists coming to his town and feeding him all sorts of treats.

The drive to Christchurch was filled with more and more mountain views and once back at the city we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon at the Antarctic centre. I was a bit disappointed to see only one little enclosure of penguins but had a blast in the stormy room. This room is only little but kept at a -8° Celsius. But at certain times the wind chill factor is put up to make the room feel like a real ice storm in the Antarctic. Of cause they provide you with big jackets to keep warm… The other thing which was a lot of fun was a ride on the hägglund, a Swedish vehicle which is especially designed to drive is snowy, muddy and difficult terrain, it can even swim thru waters, which we all experience it in a bumpy and fun ride; actually it was so much fun that we did it twice.

Our last day we spend exploring more of Christchurch, the botanic Garden was blossoming and we saw the famous Tram and watched people punting along the river. The Sunday markets were also on the list and we enjoyed some great food there, even some German sausages with sauerkraut and sweet grainy mustard.

The most interesting place for me though was the Christchurch Museum; I was very surprised to see such a great collection of artefacts and memorabilities. Definitely worth going! In the afternoon it was time to return our van to the rental place. One night at the hotel and an early flight out of Christchurch back to Sydney… It went way too fast as usual when you are having fun.

Next time I would take the Transalpine Train and probably stay a bit longer, I would also stay at some locations for much longer to really get the whole picture, but for this time it was great to get a feeling of the place and find our favourite spots.

Can’t wait for my next vacation!