Hello from lovely Mt Cook Village. It's around 6 p.m. (1 a.m. Houston) and it's so pitch black outside here. I got on the bus from Christchurch to Mt Cook this morning, and it took about 4 hours to get here. I had been to Mt Cook before, and the weather was not good at all. I did the Hooker Valley walk with 2 friends long ago and when we reached the end were greeted by a solid wall of cloud instead of mighty Aoraki like we should have been seeing.
Well guess what I saw when I arrived to Mt Cook this time? More cloud! Aotearoa indeed! It was like walking into a freaking Stephen King novel. It was rainy in Christchurch, but when we started driving out I could make out the Mt Hutt in the distance - you know, for that tour that I did yesterday. I was kicking myself for missing out on the mountain views that today's tour would have seen. But it got cloudy again as we neared Mt Cook. There are 2 turquoise blue lakes - Tekapo and Pukaiki - that are near Mt Cook. But with the low fog, all we saw was gray. It was a painful sight. Getting here was kind of out of the way too, so I felt like I wasted one of my precious days in New Zealand, not to mention the hotel I booked with panoramic views of Mt Cook.
There was a guy named Jonas (Yonas) from Switzerland who was sitting behind me on the bus. We started talking about our trips, and of course, he's been in New Zealand for a month already, and he's flying to Tahiti on Friday and basically traveling non-stop until July. He made money from web-developing, saved up money, quit and then started traveling. And then when he gets back he's going back to school. I told him that I was on vacation and using my 2 weeks of vacation from last year. His big blue eyes widened in shock and he said, "Two weeks? Really? That's all you get? I heard about that in America." Then later on he asked me how many hours a week I work and when I told him the number (which will not be revealed so I can keep just a little bit of dignity and self-respect), his eyes widened again and he said, "That's intense." Yes, that's one word for it.
Arrived at my hotel the Hermitage in Mt Cook, and the bus company I guess works out a deal with the hotel where they actually picked up my bags from the bus and placed them in my room so they were there already when I checked in. And there's no tipping here either! And I got upgraded to a huge room with 2 big beds. (FYI, if anyone ever needs a guide in New Zealand, let me know. I can take you around places for CHEAP because I got this all figured out now!)
When I had checked the weather yesterday, it said sunny skies. So I was expecting to complete the Hooker Valley walk right when I arrived today before the sunset. I had suited up in my thermals and wool socks and 2 jackets and beanie and brought along my gloves. But with the fog, tramping would be kind of pointless, unless you want to "exercise" or something. But you might as well go on a treadmill with these views. And less risk of falling!
So I hung out around the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Center. There's basically nothing to do in town when the weather is bad. Took pictures of the fog. Then after I had gotten out of this 3d movie at the museum, the worker told everyone that Mt Cook was exposed now. And it was! The fog had thinned out considerably and you could actually see the whole valley. It was gorgeous! It was near sundown already, but what a sight. And the fog continued to burn off. I ran up my hotel to get better pictures from a higher altitude outside. And then I checked out the view from my hotel room, and it was like someone blew up a freakin' postcard on my wall - stunning. Jaw-droppingly awesome. I have high hopes for tomorrow. I'm leaving at 2:30 p.m., but if I head out at 8 a.m., I should be able to complete a 4-5 hour walk and get back in time for lunch and meet my bus. If I could head out earlier I would, but it's still dark here at 7 a.m. The night sky here should be good too. Man I love this country.
Tomorrow (after doing my Mt Cook walk) I am heading to Queenstown - adventure capital of New Zealand and birthplace of bungy jumping. So I'll give you 3 guesses as to what I might be doing when I get there. ;) I'm there for less than a day - staying at Alpine Lodge. I had to squeeze at least a full day in Dunedin afterwards just so I can visit all my old haunts and finally down a Speights pale ale somewhere. I haven't booked my Queenstown accommodation yet... maybe Turner Lodge? This vacation is winding down!
