Mt Cook National Park section…12. Mt Cook National Park
Mt Cook National Park section…We’ve Got a Fan in Twizel!
So, We’re on our way to a very special detour. To see the mountain that bares Cookie’s name, Mt. Cook! It’s sat in the heart of the section we had to jump past to meet up with Ollie and Nico, so in a sense we’re back to fill in some gaps, and take in the best bits.
On our way there we planned to stop in Twizel for a cooked breakfast and pick up some supplies. Just a tiny town, we’re only there for a few mins when we hear our names being called down the street…
This is Wendy. Our fan! Wehey! Haha ;) She’s a fellow Te Araroa hiker who’s been secretly stalking us on our blog and trying to catch us ;) That seems to be the way with long distance hikers. We spend our rest days googling each other and trawling the blogs to see how everyone else ‘made it over that tricky section’ ;) That, and spying out what highlights and hellish experiences lay ahead on the next bit. ( I’m always wondering how Tengu makes it through unscathed over all those spiky spear plants in his wafty kilt, for example… ). So it’s always a pleasure to meet a fellow Frodo on the trail :D
Good luck Wendy! :)
We’re in Twizel?Yep that’s right, for those of you not familiar with the geography of the South Island – Twizel is roughly in the middle, just below Mt Cook. We’ve vaguely guestimated that if we’d carried on the Te Araroa south of Arthurs Pass instead of doing our Mt Aspiring detour with Ollie & Nico then we’d probably be at Twizel by now. So this is where we’re getting back on the trail, well almost, I have one last detour planned – visit Mt Cook, New Zealand’s highest mountain!
High Tech Hut Booking at Mt Cook Village ;)
Aoraki Mount Cook Village was not the cosy collection of characterful old mountaineers lodges I was expecting. But modern, glassy and steel beamed. Edmund Hilary exhibitions, a gift shop, and 3D cinema no less. Stressed out DOCs in the DOC office were feverishly whizzing abacus beads around booking lines of tourists into huts, forcefully insisting they carry a plastic ‘Poo Pot’ with them in case of emergency, whilst frantically trying to keep anyone from deciding to investigate the main attraction itself ( Mt. Cook ) ‘too closely’. And for good reason. This mountain, the Everest of New Zealand, is a killer.It was early afternoon by the time we arrived at the ‘village’, which is essentially a big sprawling hotel complex called The Hermitage. My plan was simple, head up to Muller Hut where I was informed great views were to be had, then stake out Mt Cook until I got an awesome photo!
After trying to book a couple of bunks in the hut for tomorrow (abacus says no), we decided to avoid the huts and stick to camping, which I think turned out to be a blessing in disguise. DOC lady didn’t seem too happy, but I told her we had plenty of ziplock bags if we couldn’t hold it in ;)
Climbing Up for a Good View
There’s several smaller peaks surrounding the Hooker Valley (below). The best way to catch a good glimpse of the big mountain seemed to be to pop up one of these :) There’s a track up Mt Ollivier with a hut at the top, so off we went!According to DOC, up on top of the ridge we’ll find – “360-degree panorama encompassing glaciers, ice cliffs, vertical rock faces and New Zealand’s highest peaks. It’s a great site for hearing and viewing ice falls, alpine sunrises and equally unforgettable sunsets”. Sounds awesome, let’s get going :)Camping Out at Sealy Tarn
A spot of lunch, a good ol’ climb, and a few steep bits later, we levelled out onto a ledge in the mountainside. We’d read about a couple who had camped out here and had a spectacular sunrise, so we decided to whack the tent up and camp for the night. Fingers crossed that annoying cloud that’s perfectly covering Mt. Cook will have moved on by the morning!We found a levelish spot in-between the tussocks for the tent. The big man we came to see was still hiding in that pinkish cloud ahead, I didn’t bother taking a picture of the mountainous tarn reflections on this visit, but we’ll be back.Misty Morning Whiteout!
Noooo! We can’t see a sausage! Nuffin! Not even the path :) Well – Not the ideal conditions for grabbing some spectacular shots of the mountain beast. We start to think that maybe just maybe we might simply be inside a cloud? If we go up higher will we be able to climb out of the whiteout?
Nicky’s checking the weather forecast on the iPad, amazingly we get 3G reception up here! It’s supposed to clear up this afternoon, so we broke camp and headed optimistically up the hill.Tantalising Glimpses
The speeding clouds waft and swirl around us revealing tiny glimpses of the glacier alongside, against a brilliant blue sky. Like a sped up time-lapse they swiftly layer and unfold in all directions, blown in spirals by the eddying gusts of icy air. Illuminated bright white and gold by the sun they form both a dramatic curtain and performance in one, showing slices of vista and fleeting windows down into the valley below. Hopefully, building to the grand finale – the grand centre piece itself… We wait.
Maybe We Can Get Above the Cloud?
After taking hundreds of shots of the unfurling clouds and glimpses of exciting rock and ice it was revealing, we decide to climb yet further up through the whiteness all around in search of a bigger break, and a shot of the real drama that ought to be looming at the end of the valley. But that involves a bit more ‘up’.
Where Would They Hide A Hut Up Here?
We’re on the tops! There should be a hut up here … Somewhere. We shall circle around until it shows itself. And for some reason i appear to have shrunken ( my already small size ) into a hobbit sized portion, while Cookie definitely has a touch of the Gandalfs ! This place sure is mysterious.We knew we were getting close to Mueller Hut, but couldn’t see anything through the mist. Suddenly it appeared in a brief window through the cloud, “bit smaller than I was expecting?” Ah, we’d found the toilets first, the hut was still beyond!Cheeky Beaky Resident at Muller Hut
The hut warden at Muller Hut was a little smaller than we’re used to. But boy, was he keen to see us. He seemed extremely eager to check the contents of our sandwiches weren’t breaking any conservation laws. Very diligent.
He was a brilliantly entertaining little Kea. I say ‘little’ but at 18inches high this fella had managed to accumulate quite a curvature of belly on him. I’m surprised he could fly to be honest. But even with that adorable cheeky grin and a fake tears in his shiny eyes, his cuteness wasn’t going to liberate our sandwiches away from their intended fate. We’d walked too hard for them. Sorry mate!
