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Traveling inland under heavy clouds, we harbored little hope of seeing the summit of Mt Cook (Aoraki to the Maori). Yet see it we did --- stunningly --- both as we arrived and as we departed the next day. Our first glimpse was over Lake Pukaki on the wonderful highway from Twizel:
Hidden in those clouds to the left and right of Mt Cook are some lofty peaks. Those to the left are visible in this photo (taken the next morning) with the Hermitage hotel barely discernible in the lower left:
Arriving in Mt Cook village (elev. 2200 ft), we were able to examine the Hermitage close at hand. Possibly the most famous hotel in New Zealand, this is its third incarnation, two earlier versions being destroyed by flood (1913) and fire (1957):
As you might guess, all those windows face in the direction of Mt Cook. The view, however, is partially obscured by a nearby hill. With a pretty woman in the foreground, though, few people notice:
We lodged one night in a Hermitage “motel unit” but to any future visitor of Mt Cook we would recommend staying in far-less-expensive Twizel instead. The highway between Twizel and Mt Cook village is delightful: fast, smooth and with gorgeous scenery --- not at all the slow, winding, steep mountain road we expected --- it zooms right up the flood plain. Even driving both ways twice would be no special burden.
Taking leave of the village the next morning, we stopped frequently to look back at the magnificent landscape of the Southern Alps:
Though our eyes wandered, Mt Cook was always the focus of our attention:
For the curious, its height is 12316 feet.
Farther from Mt Cook, Lake Pukaki --- with its glacial melt coloring --- again came into view:
As we headed in the direction of Christchurch, we passed another splendid body of water, Lake Tekapo:
Some readers may have seen photos of the picturesque Church of the Good Shepherd on the eastern shore of this lake. With its isolated, solitary charm, it tugs at the heartstrings. However, no such charm existed when we arrived as the church was crawling with tourists and busses and, hence, no photo here. The nearby town is also subject to “temporary retail chaos” when tour busses arrive.
Both this lake and Pukaki are natural lakes whose levels have been raised by dams to generate electrical power.