Day 2 - Tasman Glacier walk, Tasman Glacier (Mt Cook)

In the afternoon, we also did the Tasman Glacier walk.

Views from the lookout, looking back at the road.

This is Tasman Glacier.  

It is covered in rubble and rocks, so it doesn't look all that impressive.

It's the biggest glacier in NZ (apparently there are around 3000 glaciers in NZ)

There are some smaller walks around the glacier, which took you along the Blue Lakes. 

 Each lake we went to we frozen.  

We'd often stand on the edge of them to test how frozen the lakes were.  

Once we heard a crack, we jumped back on solid ground.

Here's Dave, showing you how frozen the lake really was.  

Day 2 - Hooker Valley walk, Hooker Glacier (Mt Cook)

Here are some photos the Hooker Glacier and its terminal lake.

We thought it was fascinating to see icebergs in the lake - quite amazing.

This shot gives you a sense of perspective.  

You can see the size of the mountain range and the glacier in relation to Dave, crouching down next to the lake.

This is one of my favourite shots.  I love the reflection of the mountain in the lake.

Here's Dave, looking rather dashing in his thermals. 

Don't be fooled by his nonchalant poise, it was cold, but you get rather hot when walking along the track after a while.

Day 2 - Hooker Valley walk (Mt Cook)

After breakfast, we did the Hooker Valley walk.  It was a really great walk to do.

This was at the beginning of the walk.  

Characteristic NZ views.

This is a monument, erected by the National Park.  

On the other side of the monument, there are numerous plaques remembering all those people who have died in the National Park

(not necessarily what  you want to see before you embark on your own walk).

This shot is look down towards the Hooker Glacier.

Our Trip to NZ - Day 2, The Hermitage

In the morning, we awoke to the glorious landscape of Mt Cook National Park.  

This shot was just near where we were staying.

We were staying in the room on the right.

This was the view we had whilst eating breakfast 

(Mt Cook is the mountain peak on the right) 

The heavens declare the glory of God, creation sings his praise.

Our Trip to NZ - Day 1

We arrived in Christchurch in the late-morning of Monday, 30th June. We picked up our hire car and drove down to Mt Cook. We didn't stop much on the way, as we wanted to get to Mt Cook before dark. But, we did make one stop at a cafe. It was positioned in a really nice spot, with great views all around. What the cafe lacked in good-tasting coffee (it was, in fact, the worst coffee I have ever tasted), it certainly made up for friendliness and beauty.

Te Anau

We are now in Te Anau and having a bit of down-time on our New Zealand trip. We have just spent 7 days in Queenstown, skiing mostly. We found Queenstown really busy. It's almost like a winter version of Surfer's Paradise. Very few people were under 30. But, it was a really viubrant and pretty town.

We found a fantastic burger restaurant called "Fergburger". It made the best burgers we have ever tasted. Dave had the 'Big Al', which was the biggest burger I have ever seen. It had 2 eggs, bacon, a whole lot of cheese, 2 prime beef patties, aoili, tomato sauce, beetroot, lettuce and tomato. I took a photo of it, but I can't post it yet.

Anyway, we really enjoyed skiing in Coronet Peak. It was a very hairy drive to Coronet Peak. On our first day, we both did a beginner lesson with Moon, our instructor (we thinnk from Japan). I already knew how to ski, but Dave hadn't skied before, so I did the lessons with him for moral support (and to brush-up on some skills). Dave picked up skiing really quickly, no surprises there. The next day, we got another lesson with Tony. Dave decided we should go up on a bigger slope (we had only done the learner slopes), the Big Easy, before our lesson. Needless to say, Dave quickly decided that he was a bit hasty going down the slope before more lessons. I think he only stacked it a couple of times coming down. The lessons were really helpful, though, and we found our confidence growing.

Unfortunately, on Saturday, it snowed all the way down in Queenstown and it was snowing so much that they had to close all the ski fields. So, we had to spend the day in Queenstown. It was pretty cool, though, as there was snow everywhere. We had to put the chains on the car.

The next day, we managed to get up to Coronet Peak again, but we had to put the chains on the car again to get there. It was very busy, since it was the first Sunday of the school holidays. We spent the day skiing around, trying out different slopes. It was a lot of fun. We went to some parts that were probably beyond our ability, but we had fun. I injured my knee slightly, so that held me back a bit. On Monday we decided to get a private lesson with Ants. This was really great. We learnt so much and our skills improved greatly. We could confidently get down the intermediate slopes, feeling in control and having fun (some times more than others). But, my knee was getting too sore, so I decided to stop and rest up. On Tuesday, Dave had a quick ski around in the monring while I took some photos.

Now, we are in Te Anua, resting up before we head out to Milford Sound tomorrow.