Mt Cook

So just for the record: I hate stairs on mountains... But more on that later...

Quick breakfast, then I say goodbye to the sea one more time. I won't see the Pacific again for another 3-4 days, now I'm driving along the Waitaki River towards the northeast and into the mountains. The narrow road winds through barren hills, endless cattle and sheep.... The goal is Mount Cook, where I want to go hiking in the beautiful mountain world again. It's 8 degrees at 08:00, but at the destination it's already 12... So it's summer. The drizzle stops at some point, but the clouds remain relatively low. In contrast, the fuel prices in the middle of nowhere... Before I drive into the side valley and another 60 km, I fill up again in Omarama...2.42 per liter, yesterday in Dunedin it was 2.02. In Mount Cook Village, I drive to the DOC campground, there are toilets and a cooking room with a sink. Luckily, I always underestimate my cooking quantities here in NZ as well, so for tonight I still have leftovers from yesterday (minced meat, tomatoes, rice), with salad... done. But first, lie down for 5 minutes.... I wake up again after 40 minutes... The clouds have cleared, blue sky lures me outside, it's also gotten warmer. But now let's go, I want to go to the Mueller Hut, 7 hours round trip. After 400m, the first steps appear, then mostly just steps, steps, steps... 20 cm high, so that's 5 for a meter, 500 for a hundred... And it's 500m to the first plateau... After subtracting rounding errors, that's around 2000 steps... I hate steps... In the end, I must have looked so annoyed that a young woman coming towards me wants to comfort me, saying there are only 10 more steps left, then I'll have made it... At the same time, I'm overtaken by 3 guys from Germany for the second time (probably mountain troops or something), I can almost feel the breeze as they speed up... Be 20 once and then make a few decisions differently... Doesn't matter, climbing becomes more pleasant behind the plateau, and when I reach the ridge, I'm rewarded with a magnificent view of the glacier. Water is flowing out of the snow and ice everywhere, it also cracks loudly a few times. A great view... I climb a few more meters up the mountain until the hut comes into view, but then I've had enough and start my descent. On the plateau, I come across a Kea, a mountain parrot. It's bigger than expected and quite trusting. When I reach the bus, it's 8 km in 5.5 hours with 1050 meters of elevation... I strike up a conversation with my neighbor while having a finisher beer. We exchange information about the tours and he gives me a secret remedy against sandflies as well as a tip for the best hike in NZ. The rest is easy... eat and go to bed....