Kristin's journal entry: "Things I love about New Zealand - the weeds, the lambs, friendly people, clean bathrooms, real sugar, gluten-free foods, and the tramping!"
We woke up to a beautiful morning at Mt. Cook. We ate breakfast in the large lounge in the Alpine Lodge. The views were spectacular.
Nathan enjoying a nice view with his breakfast.
We set off bright and early for our first hike to Kea Point. We saw what seemed like a million rabbits as we walked along the trail!
The beginning of the trail to Kea Point.
The trail got quite a bit more rocky after a while!
Nathan being cute.
Remember...at this point, our camera was still broken and we couldn't actually see how our pictures were turning out.
Nathan's journal entry: "We had some excellent walks this morning at Mt. Cook. The Kea Point walk was easy and ended with a scenic overlook of a glacier-fed lake, Mt. Cook, and another mountain with two glaciers. We spotted a few small avalanches as the ice melted."
As we were tramping (hiking), we would hear what sounded like thunder. The sound was actually small avalanches on this mountain (you could see the snow and ice as it fell). We enjoyed "avalanche watching" after that.
Lake formed by a glacier.
Kristin's journal entry: "I loved the trails we chose today. We saw lots of bunnies and went avalanche watching. The weather at Mt. Cook was absolutely perfect, and the camera let us take pictures until we left."
The last tramp we did at Mt. Cook was the Hooker Valley trail. It was beautiful. We didn't finish it because we had to get on the road, but it's on our future to-do list. Between the rivers, lakes, lush greenery, valleys, and mountain views, there was always something to see...and the swinging bridges were awesome!
Nathan's journal entry: "The Hooker trail was better on the whole [than the Kea Point trail] with different views of the same lake and glaciers. After that, it continued across two swing bridges and around a bend for a spectacular view of Mt. Cook. The trail continued, but we turned back. Parts were rugged, but the trail was fairly easy."
See the swinging bridge? It looks much more stable than it feels.
Awesome view of Mt. Cook.
Nathan just hanging out on the swinging bridge.
The minute we left the Mt. Cook area, our camera completely died. :-( We found a new one that night in Christchurch, though! This was Thanksgiving Day in the U.S., so Kristin was hoping to find some turkey. Instead, we ended up eating Thai food in a mall...go figure.
Nathan's journal entry: "The drive up to Christchurch was beautiful most of the way. There was an overabundance of the yellow-flowered weeds around Kimball, and we saw several bee hives around there. We also saw numerous deer farms."
Kristin's journal entry: "The drive was long, but the first part was really scenic. We saw lots of sheep! We stopped at a KFC with crazy bathrooms (the doors slid open when you pushed a button). In Christchurch we checked into our hotel - it's wonderful, and the hosts are incredibly nice. We spent the evening in the mall eating, grocery shopping, and buying a new camera."
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