Saturday, November 3, 2007

Aoraki/Mt. Cook

After the Milford trip C and I travelled around the southern coast of NZ, through the 'Catlains'.
After several nights in the huts and several weeks in our campervan we needed some luxury. We booked a great spot in Kaka Point, took baths, slept in a bed, washed all of our aromatic laundry and aired out our 'travelling bunkhouse'. It felt great.

On our way north we hit the coast we were lucky enough to see both yellow-eyed and blue penguins. We are in love with the NZ coastline.

After this wonderful downtime, we headed back inland for what will most likely be our last chance to see the 'Southern Alps'. After all of the rain we recieved in the earlier portion of our trip, we have been very lucky recently, as the pictures can prove. Another fantastic day as we hiked through Hooker Valley up to Aoraki/Mt. Cook and the glaciers.

Northbound, we head back to Picton and our ferry to the North island.

5 comments:

Mom and Dad said...

Spectacular!
Love, Mom

Mom and Dad said...

Saw a special on the Travel Channel about Milford and now we know why you are raving about it!
Just beautiful.....God's country for sure.
Love, Mom and dad

colemanfw said...

Sounds like things are awesome as travels come to a close in NZ....
Now, you know that Tonga in Spanish means Thong. Cha, don't be letting Michael get any crazy Ideas about his swimwear!!
Hope its going well...miss you guys!

Chad & Andrea said...

Hello you two! So happy that you are having a blast! Your pictures are gorgeous! We think of you often! We were in the 'Ham last weekend and got engaged!!!! Kick ass! We love you both!

Alasia & Bobby said...

Hi M & C, I was working in a 1st grade class the other day; at the end of the day while I was seeing kids off to their buses, parents, Boys & Girls Club etc..., one of the parents and I had a chat. Turns out he's Tongan and naturally I talked about your guys' trip plans. He was stoked about it, told me a bunch of stories from home, he's from Tongatapu (spelling?). He said he misses it all the time and wants to bring his kids/family back there someday. They would live there now but unemployment is tough. Along with a bunch of other stuff he said that on his home island, which he described as the most beautiful place, is the rock with a hole that the sky god Tangaloa caught the islands with his fishing hook and pulled the archipeligo out of the sea. So who knows... maybe while you're trekking around in your flip-flops you'll see the rock! His stories inspired me to look up info on the history, culture and current affairs of those islands. Cool stuff!! You two are headed to (already there?) an amazing spot and it'll be great to hear/read your stories from there. He also taught me how to say hello, good travels and blessings from the sky and sea in his language but I won't even try to spell that here because I'm sure I'll botch it up too badly! So keep cool, have a blast, drink some kava and talk to you both soon!
Bobby