The glory of Mt. Cook

***Storyline:* *Home to home westward***

Yes, it is majestic and magnificent. And we were lucky to see it, snow covered and gloriously shining diamond-like on a clear sunny day. I wanted to book something in Mt. Cook village. When booking in Nov 2018, I didn’t realise I was booking for Easter weekend.

All I could find was the ultra-expensive Hermitage hotel at near $500/night, and the Youth Hostel, which for a private room for two, but shared toilets and showers cost $140. And there was only one room left in the hostel. I booked it, but with no private toilet and at an age when one gets up a few times each night, I wasn’t comfortable. So, I continued e-mailing, calling, etc. Everyone from the tourism industry I was in touch with would send me to the Hermitage. Then I started Google street view, “driving” around the small village.

I found the Mt. Cook Lodge and Motels. During my first correspondence with them, someone gave me prices almost at the level of the Hermitage hotel. Nothing under $300 a night. I called, and called again. And at certain point I ran into a guy who was helpful. I asked him what could he do for us. “We can’t afford your prices”, I said. He gave me much better price than anyone else. “Can you do better?”, I asked again. “Well if you pay now, I can give you a better price.” OK, done deal. “But you can’t cancel it”. “We don’t intend to cancel it. We are coming hell or high water” (before we understood what high water can do to one’s plans in NZ). Then he also gave us a discount on the breakfast. And so, I had Mt. Cook covered.

I could not have been happier that we stayed there. There was an option to stay in Twizel, 50km away, or Tekapo, 100km around the lake, and use the Mt. Cook shuttle, but it is a totally different experience to staying among the mountains. Reminded me my youth and hiking the Bulgarian mountains.

There are a few ways to get to Mt. Cook village if you are not self-driving. You can take an InterCity bus to Tekapo or Twizel and from there use the Cook connect shuttle. The regular InterCity buses do not go to Mt. Cook village. Then there are major tour companies that do a Queenstown to Christchurch day tour via Mt. Cook.

They stop at the Hermitage hotel for a couple of hours, enough time for lunch and photo/selfie shots. You can contact them and arrange to be dropped off at the village, taking half of the tour, if you are coming from either Queenstown or Christchurch, then returning or completing the tour on another day. Check with AwesomeNZ or Great Sights. There are probably more local companies, but these are the ones we’ve used.

Arrived on a beautiful sunny day.

We could see all the mountains as we were driven around Lake Pukaki. Tom told us the names, the height, the fact that they continue demoting Mt. Cook’s height (due to avalanches & improvements in methodology), etc. The drive was spectacular.

We dropped our bags at the lodge and walked around the area until check-in time. Great day for photos. And last sunny day, too.

In late afternoon we walked to the Hooker Valley Track, only to discover that the trail was closed at the first swing (suspension) bridge. A downpour had destroyed 130m of the trail beyond the bridge and severely damaged the second swing bridge.

Seems this is the theme of our trip. It is autumn here. And it does feel strange. We left home just when the days started getting longer and we had changed the clock to spring time. We changed time back to fall/winter shortly after our arrival in NZ, and the days are getting shorter and shorter.

So, by the time we had stopped at every turn to take in the view and snap a photo or ten, it was already getting dark.

Mt. Cook village is located on a valley plain, surrounded by majestic glaciers and mountains. It is protected, to some extent. Tom told us that they have rebuilt the Hermitage hotel a few times. He pointed to its previous location before avalanches had destroyed it. The second one burned down. They think its current location is well protected.

The yellow tussock grass on the plain was so amazing. We both kept thinking of the Savanna, with little green bushes spotted around, resembling animals and cars in the distance resembling vehicles on safari.

It was time for dinner. We’d earlier checked the Hermitage offerings, and they were out of our range even for sharing.

But we were lucky enough that the Lodge had its own self-serve restaurant with good prices and spectacular views of the mountains. We had our dinners there and enjoyed the views.

After dinner, Alex went to try some night shots, but the near-full moon was too bright for good star shots. The rain began overnight and continued, sometimes heavily, for part of the morning.

Then it stopped just in time for another hike. We made it to Kea Point.

Out in the open, the winds were so strong that I only could survive by holding onto Alex. Another front was moving in.

The views were spectacular even with the clouds gathering over the mountain.

We did not have time to continue to the Mueller Track since the weather was closing in. If it weren’t so expensive, I would have loved to spend a few more days there and sample all the hikes around.

But as everywhere else, it has become so very touristy (no, not with hikers: most of the visitors don’t go out of the restaurants and hotels) that it is absolutely unaffordable for us.

And so, we said goodbye to Mt. Cook the next day, so rainy that the mountains had disappeared in the seas of water, silhouettes barely noticeable. We could have been anywhere.