To Mount Cook! - Twizel

09/11 - 11/11

Slowly but surely, our journey takes us north. As the next stop, we chose the Mount Cook National Park to take a closer look at New Zealand's highest mountain. We found accommodation just outside the small town of Twizel in a holiday resort on Lake Ruataniwha.

From there, we made our way to the national park. By car, you drive from Twizel for about an hour along a lake and can already enjoy a wonderful view of the mountain range.



In the national park, there is a small village from where you can go on several hikes. After Emi already relativized her statement before the trip - 'We are going up everywhere' - and I was still a bit tired from surfing, we opted for a more leisurely option in the valley. Additionally, the mountains still had alpine conditions for which we would definitely not be properly equipped. The Hooker Valley Track leads relatively flat between the mountains to a lake where you can have a leisurely snack and have Mount Cook right in front of you. The only disadvantage of this option was that pretty much every tourist, no matter how unsporty, can walk this track, which means you constantly walk past photo motives of (mainly Asian) travelers. But once again, the landscape left us speechless.





Otherwise, we didn't do much. The lake at our accommodation was unfortunately too cold to go swimming. But there was a trampoline in the children's playground that we tested extensively... ;)



In the evening, we drove to Twizel, where we already had our regular bar and treated ourselves to a few beers and some WiFi. WiFi is unfortunately not always readily available in New Zealand. In some accommodations, it is time-limited or you have to pay extra for it. In addition, the quality is usually rather poor...

Conclusion:

I'm actually surprised that even with everything we have seen so far, the landscape in New Zealand can still impress us. Twizel and the Mount Cook National Park actually managed to surpass our expectations.

The weather was also a bit friendlier than in the last few days, which makes relaxing in this scenery even more enjoyable.

Hasta pronto!

E&L

>> Next stop: Arthur's Pass <<