Mt. Cook and Lake Tekapo-- South Island, NZ February 9, 2000
Vacating our home of seven weeks in Christchurch and accompanied by our SF friend Colleen, we headed for the
southern and western parts of the South Island. These locales are the BIG scenery
places.
Our first stop was the town of Geraldine. After checking out the bakery (always part of our regular
tour,) we played the Geraldine Denfield golf course -- a nice, small town course: easy to
walk, well-maintained greens, deserted, and inexpensive.
Then off to Lake Tekapo. For accommodations, we tried the Godly Hotel, which appeared to be nearly empty. When I hesitated after hearing the room rate, they offered us a deluxe room for price of a standard. That meant we had a room with this view overlooking the huge turquoise lake, which was just 100 yards off the deck.
Lake water in NZ is often an incredible turquoise color. 
Tiny, talc-sized particulates, created by glacial action, are too small to settle out.
They reflect / refract light, making the already incredible scenery even more
so.
Aside from colorful waters and the lake views, the main attraction at Lake Tekapo is the Church of the Good Shepherd,
a small stone building at the water’s edge. It's a pretty site, so here's a photo.
The
next day we made our way to Mt. Cook Nat’l Park. The mountain was in magnificent form: thrusting high into the sky, white glaciers
sparkling in the sunlight. We drove to the mountain's base and took a wonderful two-hour hike
through the Hooker Valley. The fun of hiking the varying terrain and the bridges over the
rushing river waters culminated in some incredible views of Mt. Cook. Unfortunately, this picture doesn’t do justice to the sight, but it might give
you inkling. Farther down the track you can hike out onto a glacier, but we needed to get back to catch a helicopter to the high country.
The helicopter flight
was
a first for us both. I was lucky and got to sit up front with the pilot on the way up.
Blustery winds buffeted the small six-seater, so it was a little scary at first.
(A flight we had tried to book at Lake Tepako earlier had already been cancelled
due to wind.) But once we got up
into the mountains the winds
thankfully calmed, and the ride (and I) settled down. After flying over the glacial moraine, we ascended and landed on a
snowy patch high above the valley. The views were marvelous, as this
picture show. It was exhilarating being up above much of the world.
I especially loved the fact that we didn't have to exert ourselves climbing to
get there.
The quiet thup-thup-thup of the helicopter in the background was a small price to pay for the ease of the journey.
Definitely recommended.