Long Road to Mt Cook

Our second last stop before the 16-day tour came to an end was Mt Cook, 331km away. At 3,755m, Mt Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand. It is known as Aoraki (which means Cloud Piercer) in the local Maori dialect.

On our way there, we stopped at a salmon farm near Twizel to buy some salmon for dinner.

We stayed at the chalets at The Hermitage Hotel, which gives a superb view of Mt Cook. The hotel attracts a large crowd of Japanese tourists.

The next morning before leaving for Christchurch, we went for a walk to Hooker Valley, about a 4-hr walk to and fro.

We drove from the hotel to the starting point of the walk. At the car park, the wind was so strong that when we opened the front door of the van, it swung backwards so forcefully that the door was damaged! On top of that, the tissue box which was placed on the dashboard ‘flew’ out of the van!

Most of us did not complete the walk as the weather took a turn, as not only was the wind very strong, it was getting a bit cold and it started to rain.

At the salmon farm near Twizel town (above and below)


The fish

Beautiful scenery along the way

Mt Cook




Salad
Dinner prepared by group members (above and below 2)

Salmon

Mussels

Statue of Sir Edmund Hillary,
the first man to set foot on Mt Everest, Nepal in 1953

Hooker Valley

Along the Hooker Valley trail

View of The Hermitage Hotel from the trail