The sun doesn’t rise til after 8am down on the south island, so its rather easy to get up for sunrise photos, except that today there was nothing to photograph. The magnificent view of Mt Cook was replaced with white clouds and misty rain. I went for breakfast in the buffet where I watched tourists from Japan, decide posing for misty clouds just wouldn’t do standing up and they promptly wiped down an outside seat from water and took turns striking poses while seated. All of them serious!
Mt Cook, hidden from view.
I then headed south again for the 50 odd km road back to the main highway. I passed many people heading to Mt cook, the poor buggers weren’t going to see anything at all. I started driving and stopped briefly at a hydro plant because the water was that lovely glacier blue. The water actually comes from the glaciers near Mt Cook. They have a small dam and generate hydro power from it.
Glacier water Hydro
Back in the car and it was starting to drizzle a bit, I started to reassess my plans for the day. I was planning to visit a wildlife park near the airport, then I thought I could go into the city of Christchurch and have a look. I stopped briefly at Tekapo to photograph the very photogenic church that looks great in photos on a clear day or at night as Tekapo is in the dark ky reserve (There is an observatory on a nearby hill).
Tekapo church
So back to my plans for the day. They basically disappeared as the traffic got heavier towards Christchurch. So did the rain and I think I’ve got NZ black plague. I found a pharmacy and got some drugs for the night, returned the hire car and checked into the hotel and it was 4pm. I have to get up at 4am for my flight home.
Hope you’ve all enjoyed my little jaunt around the south island of NZ. some obvious standouts I didn’t get to were Milford sound and a distinct lack of time or suitable weather to do to much trekking. I did check the trip meter on returning the car and I’ve done over 1800 kms and 24 hrs and 15 minutes of driving!