Week 43 - New Mountains and Old Friends

On Monday, Birgit and Oliver took a boat trip on Milford Sound. Meanwhile, we went on a hike that was still on our bucket list - the Gertrude Saddle. A challenging hike, but only a few kilometers and with just 500 meters of elevation gain. We set off early and enjoyed the morning sun on the saddle. The view towards Milford Sound was excellent and completely different from other hikes we had done.

On the next day, we set off together to Key Summit. We had already hiked the summit, and since we enjoyed it so much, we wanted to show it to Birgit and Oliver.

Afterwards, we drove to Queenstown. We settled into our free parking spot in the suburb, and the next day we took the bus into Queenstown. We went up with the gondola and then to the Ben Lomond Saddle. As a reward, we had the supposedly world-famous Fergburger afterwards.

The next day, we had a rest day while Birgit and Oliver went back to Queenstown to explore the city and learn about local birds at the Kiwi House. They even saw a kiwi in the dimmed area.

On Thursday, we continued on. After a stop at Bannockburn Sluicings Historic Reserve (an old gold mining area) and at the Clay Cliffs, we reached our destination - Lake Pukaki. We definitely wanted to show Birgit and Oliver this parking spot with the beautiful view. And once again, the view was stunning, and Mount Cook showed itself in all its glory.

Contrary to Oliver's joy, we got up very early the next morning and set off at 7 a.m. towards Mount Cook. When we were there in December, the parking lot was completely full by 9 a.m., so we were prepared this time. However, there was still plenty of time before the first short hike. We headed to the Kea Viewpoint and the Hooker Valley Track.

By chance, we ran into Alice and Louis from France in the parking lot (we know them from working in Gisborne), and we had a lovely evening together.

After a night at the parking lot on site and a spectacular moonrise next to Mount Cook, we headed to the Red Tarn Viewpoint on Saturday. After 1100 steps, we reached the viewpoint of Mount Cook and the valley.

We are spending another night at Mount Cook today before heading to Lake Tekapo tomorrow.

We have fewer pictures this week because we had already done some hikes in December. However, the views are so beautiful that it doesn't bother us further.