The second half of my trip started with the biggest risk that I will likely take on the entire trip - driving a car with right hand drive on the left side of the road. It mostly went fine after a quick adjustment period. The most nerve-racking part was the giant traffic circle that was very busy - at night - with five different exits and entrances. Fun stuff! It was also a weird experience having to scrape your windows in late June!
The drive away from Queenstown to Mt. Cook was very beautiful
Stopped off at a town named Wanaka...there was a group of kids playing rugby. Pretty fun to watch while listening to the parents complain about the ref - some things cross cultural boundaries.
Wanaka - like many of the towns on the South Island of New Zealand sits next to a beautifully clear mountain lake.
Panorama of said lake
Lindis Pass between Queenstown and Mt. Cook. Unlike driving in the states, there was almost never anything other than a two lane road. Many of the bridges were only one lane, with helpful signs telling you which lane is to give way. Neat experience.
This reminded me of a desktop background on a computer.
Mt. Cook National Park - home to Mt. Cook, the largest mountain in New Zealand. On the first full day that I was there, I went for a little hike. I was initially only going to do the first half of the hike, as the internet and signs around the park strongly suggested someone of my equipment and experience not try the full hike to Mueller’s Hut. As you will see, my stubbornness won out! The first 2000’ of the hike were up stairs. This was fine at first...then the steps began getting icy. This is called “foreshadowing”.
Higher up, a little more snow and ice.
There’s always time for a selfie on a fun hike.
At the halfway point, the ground was pretty well covered with a few inches of snow. This nice picnic table was set up and there was a great view. Problem was...there was more mountain left that I hadn’t climbed. It didn’t look like too big a deal (Narrator: It was a big deal...)
The last 2000’ feet of the climb traded steps for several feet of snow and ice. There were a few moments when I thought about turning around...but again - stubborn!
After an hour or so of pushing through highly steep cliffs and a huge amount of snow, I caught a glance of my goal - Mueller Hut! It looked pretty close at this point...turns out that it’s still quite a hike when the snow is almost coming up to your knees for every step.
Proof that I made it! The hut was pretty neat...run by the NZ Government for hikers. Bunks, water (when it isn’t frozen), and ovens (BYOGas). No heat of course. I would have stuck around longer, but my socks and shoes were soaked and frozen...I wasn’t too interested in getting frostbite so I headed down quick.
Everywhere you looked, the view was absolutely incredible! These mountains were used in Lord of the Rings for epic mountain shots.
Mueller Hut - quite a view. The weather was pretty much perfect on this day. Even this high, it was only slightly below freezing. Didn’t stop the bottom of my pants from being completely frozen!
The hike back...
As soon as I went over this crest to face the downhill journey ahead of me, I knew I was in for a “fun” time. This is one of these situations where photos don’t do the slope and situation justice.
The slope was pretty extreme at places - basically going straight down the mountain.
It was at this point that I had to give myself a little pep talk that I could indeed do this. This is probably a 45 degree slope with no firm footing. Thankfully, if you fall (back), you land in several feet of snow. If fall forward...well, don’t fall forward!
The hike was a definite effort - but the views were incredible. No other way of getting views like this without renting a helicopter.
Selfie time again!
Mt. Cook. Notice the glacier feeding Hooker Lake at the base of the mountain.
At the bottom, the scope of the hike was clear. The route was generally up the right third of the mountain.
Cool bridge to Hooker Lake. This is one of these situations where photos sometimes make adventures look more exciting than they actually were...the bridge was closed (the camera is resting on the gate) due to a washed out trail ahead. Bummer!
Beautiful sight as the last rays of sunset reach the upper peaks of Mt. Cook.
Pretty mountains at sunset
One of the nice benefits of Mt. Cook being in the middle of nowhere is that the night skies were incredibly beautiful. On my last night there, the clouds were gone and I got a few shots of the sky.
I love being able to see the plane of the Milky Way.
The stars aren’t the best in this shot (I was struggling on my long exposures with no tripod - having to smush the camera into the soft ground and trample all the tall grass around the lens). The cool part of this shot was when a car drove by on a nearby road lighting up the buildings in front.
After my time at Mt. Cook, I had a long drive ahead of me to Christchurch. Thankfully, the scenery didn’t disappoint. Near a town called Tekapu was an important observatory on top of a mountain. There were some very nice views. The water of many of the New Zealand lakes, being fed from glaciers, takes on the turquoise hue you see in the photo (that’s not photoshopped...)
There was a cafe at the Mt. John observatory. They even made my hot chocolate look neat!
Mt. John’s Observatory
Christchurch, New Zealand. More on this church in a bit...I just liked the sunset shot.
One thing we need in Chattanooga is a Food Hall. It’s like a Food Court at a mall, but with really good stuff (sorry Sbarro, but you know it’s true...). This was one of the delicious treats I enjoyed!
Christchurch is full of small little rivers passing through it. You will often see “punters”, people pushing boats around taking people on the river. It’s quite a lovely town - I would imagine that in Spring time, it’d be INCREDIBLE with the amount of gardens and plants everywhere. This was a neat misty shot in the morning.
A cool fountain in front of what used to be the Canterbury University. The very famous alum of that institution is Ernest Rutherford.
Canterbury Museum - Christchurch, being the main city on the south island of New Zealand, is home to many countries Antartica program. Many of the famous Antartica expiditions started here. The town’s museum featured a large exhibit on past expeditions and the history of the people of New Zealand - very well done!
When Ernest Rutherford was a student at Canterbury College, he petitioned the staff to allow him and a friend to run electromagnetism experiments in the cloak room under the Mathematics lecture hall. This cramped room became known as Rutherford’s Den. Rutherford would go on to discover the nucleus, along with many other scientific phenomenon. He was one of the most important scientists since Newton.
Mathematics Lecture Hall - Rutherford’s Den is under this. It was neat getting to sit in the benches imagining that I was listening to an inspiring Mathy Kathy lecture on Math. The students in the day must have been quite skinny because its a VERY tight fit.
One of the defining events in Christchurch’s history is a massive earthquake that devastated the town in 2011. This memorial, 185 Empty White Chairs, memorializes each of the 185 victims of the earthquake. Everywhere you go in town, there are buildings being supported by beams, being demolished, or being rebuilt. I’ve been to many cities - Christchurch is a bit unique because they’ve very recently had a recent on how their town is laid out. They are trying some new things and making a very unique place.
The Christchurch Cathedral was destroyed by the Earthquake. In place of the cathedral, the people of Christchurch built a temporary cathedral. The walls are made from shipping containers and the beams holding up the roof are partially made from cardboard - giving the church the name the “Cardboard Cathedral”. The building stands as a testament to the resiliency of the residents of Christchurch.
The Christchurch Cathedral was destroyed by the earthquake, including the bell tower directly in the front of this photo. There have been many legal fights about what to do with the cathedral (and who should pay for it), but the final story seems to be that the church will be rebuilt as it was before the quake.
Parked on the tarmac of the Christchurch Airport is NASA’s SOFIA aircraft. This is a modified 747 with a giant door in the back of the plane that hides a telescope. The airplane is able to fly very high above a lot of the atmosphere and take much better images than would be normally practical on Earth. Really cool plane!
