Heading back to Christchurch

We finish the Routeburn Track not far from Milford Sound, so that evening we drive to Milford, via the tunnel hacked through the rock, and we stay the night in a lively YHA hostel that has a cosy lounge with lots of sofas. We spend the evening sorting ourselves out from the walk; cooking dinner; drinking a celebratory bottle of red wine and thinking through our ideas for the last 3 days and 2 nights of Debbie’s trip.

Overnight the weather changes and when we wake up on Easter morning it is raining steadily and the mist and clouds hang low. The Easter Bunny obviously hasn’t been able to keep up with our itinerant life-style, or doesn't want to get his fur wet; so no choccie eggs hiding for us to find. We drive down to the Sound and take the short walk along the waterfront. In hindsight we probably should have taken advantage of the good weather yesterday to see Milford Sound at its best, but seeing it in its naturally drippy state is far more typical of the place and it is atmospheric in the gloom.

Milford Sound

We have decided to break our return journey to Christchurch by staying in Queenstown tonight, so we set out driving back along the Milford Road and enjoy the waterfalls streaming down from the top of the bare rock cliffs. By the time we reach Te Anau it has almost stopped raining and we find a café for lunch to satisfy our wish for a burger.

As we drive on after lunch I am surprised by how busy the road is. On these country roads it is rare to see more than 1 or 2 cars, but then it is the Easter weekend and I expect people are out and about. We almost have a traffic jam in one place and then we realise there is a cycle race on the road up ahead. There are support vehicles behind a large group of cyclists and it takes a while for the traffic to pass safely. It must be a big event because further along the road we meet another two groups of vehicles and cyclists.

Cycle Race

In the afternoon we check into a hostel in Queenstown. This is the cheapest place we have stayed in this week at only $20 a night for a dorm room; but it is also the least appealing, with deliberately scruffy décor to appeal to the younger travellers; a kitchen that doesn’t seem to expect much cooking to go on, except perhaps toast-making and all rather grubbier than necessary. We make the most of the last of the afternoon sunshine by taking a walk around the public gardens, which are lovely and then across the lake-front beach to the town. It is fairly busy, as I expect it usually is with people walking up and down the waterfront and sitting outside bars and restaurants. Continuing our frugal theme, we look in the supermarket for beer, but find we are not allowed to buy it in a store today, which is Easter Monday, so we go up-market and sit at a bar in the main street instead. 

Queenstown Gardens

Queenstown Beach

The next day we continue driving towards Christchurch and the weather is clear and sunny again. We are hoping that the weather will remain clear enough to make a worthwhile diversion to visit Mount Cook. As the mountain comes into view from the main road it is much clearer today than how we saw it on our previous drive past, so we turn up the road to Mount Cook Village, driving along the lake side and stop from time to time to admire the views of the approaching mountain.

Road to Mount Cook

We decide to do a 2 hour walk up the Hooker Valley, the better to appreciate the mountain and also to visit the lake that is at the end of the glacier here. A large cloud appears to be gathering on the mountain’s left-hand flank, threatening to obscure the view of the peak, but although it continues to accumulate and blow rapidly in the direction of the mountain, it must be evaporating as quickly, because the mountain remains in view. It is very windy today and we have to struggle somewhat to make smooth headway on the stony path.

Mount Cook from the Hooker Valley

As we get closer to the mountain Debbie points out that there is a very prominent face in the snow towards the top of the mountain, keeping a watchful, spooky eye on us as we approach.

Face on the Mountain

We reach the edge of the lake which sits below the small, dirty glacier. Small icebergs are floating in the water, having dropped off the front end of the glacier and the edge of the lake is decorated with ice crystals.

Lake and Icebergs

We continue our journey to stay overnight again at Lake Tekapo and celebrate the end of a successful trip with pizza and beer in a local restaurant. The next day we complete our drive back to Christchurch and I drop Debbie at the airport in the early evening in time for her flight to Aukland and then on to Hong Kong. We agree the holiday has been a great success and that we will definitely meet up again somewhere in the world. Debbie hopes to come back to New Zealand sometime to see some more of the country and do some more tramping.

Goodbye at Christchurch Airport