Magnificent Mount Cook

Trip Start Oct 09, 2009

121

Trip End Oct 05, 2010

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In the Campervan

Flag of New Zealand Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand
Monday, April 19, 2010

V: We decided to head a little closer to Aoraki or Mt Cook and camp somewhere on the way. We came across an amazing view of Mount Cook from across the ultra-blue Lake Pukaki. The sun was setting and the lake was beautifully still. It seemed like the perfect place to camp for the night. We had spotted a cluster of campervans a few kilometers back and headed back there only to find there was not really enough space for our van. A local suggested a quiet spot away from the roadside a few kilometers back, so we found ourselves on our own, free camping that night in a simply stunning setting on the lake which had a fantastic view of Mount Cook in the background with a picture postcard sunset. The evenings were getting quite cold so I had invested in a hot water bottle to keep me warm at night.

We were lucky enough to arrive at Mt Cook on a day with little cloud to obscure our view, as is often the case in the Mount Cook region. At 3755m this was nothing compared to the mountains of Nepal but we were still mesmerized by the awesome view of the snow capped peaks as we drove up the SH80. We visited the Edmund Hilary museum and did a couple of walks in the area to some viewpoints of the mountain and the glacier lake. The icebergs looked pretty small from our high elevation but it was only when the inflatable rafts passed them that we realized how big they really were.

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