Monday morning we set off on our last driving leg of our trip, from Lake Tekapo to Queenstown. It was another sunny and clear morning and the drive was supposed to be about 2 ½ hours long. We stopped at a visitor center at the bottom of Lake Pukaki to see if we could see Mt. Cook. Mt. Cook is the tallest point in New Zealand at around 3700 meters. There were some clouds around the peak and we couldn’t see the entire thing. So we continued on our way. But then we decided to take the drive north to the Aoraki National Park as it was only a 55 km road. We were so glad that we did! The road winds along the lake and the base of the mountains until you get to the little village at the end. We stopped at the visitors center to see what there was to do. We saw a nice road that was an 8 km drive to a view of a glacier so we took that. Turned out to be a gravel road with lots of twists, a few one way bridges and a steep uphill section. Those are the roads I would normally close my eyes on, but we made it to the end! My dad would be proud. At the end of the road is a picnic area, with toilets and then several walks to different sights. We took the walk to view the Tasman Glacier. It was a mostly uphill walk with a clear path until we got to a pile of large rocks. Then we had to pick our way to the top. The view was great. The glacier is the largest in New Zealand and looks like a pile of gravel. I think the sign said the gravel part was 2 meters thick and then it was ice underneath. The small lake had a few little icebergs floating in it. We had a great view of Mt. Cook with no clouds to cover the top. It was beautiful! In this area, as with most of New Zealand, the mountains pretty much just rise up from the valley floor. There don’t seem to be foothills like you find out by the Rockies. We ate our lunch on a picnic table next to a small rushing stream with the mountains surrounding us. It was the best lunch spot! Unfortunately we had to get back in the car and head back to the main road. The rest of the drive to Queenstown took us along the flat areas and then up through the mountains. This was the only day we hit a traffic jam and it came in the form of a herd of cows heading up the road! So I had to stop to let them go by as they pretty much took over the entire road. Some were smaller ones that were trying to have a drink on the way and some had their tongues hanging out from the walk. Very exciting!
Queenstown is set along a lake that is surrounded by mountains. We have another lakeview room and it has a pretty great view! We have 3 whole days in this area and will be taking a Lord of the Rings Tour on Tuesday and then 2 days to do whatever. Hopefully the weather stays nice!
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