We drove up to Mt. Aoraki (Mount Cook) yesterday and thought we were never going to get to see the mountain. There were patchy clouds all across the sky and it just seemed like it would never clear up. We decided to stay the night and get up early in the morning to do a hike up to Hooker Glacier which is at the base of the mountain.

We stayed at a DOC campsite near the village of Mt. Cook. There were no facilities except toilets, but there were tons of people camping there. Seems we weren't the only ones with the idea! While we were there, I won my bet with Val that we had made when we first arrived in New Zealand. She was convinced we would not see another campervan from the same people we rented from. As it turns out there is a couple from Brisbane, Australia that have been here for 3 weeks traveling around and have rented Culli's cousin, Morpy. We compared notes with them and wished them happy trails.

Late in the afternoon we were greeted by the sounds of the ever-present Kea. This is a mountain Parrot that has become so used to humans, they have no fear of them. There were about 6 of them and they kept flying onto the tops of campervans that had their roof vents open and were trying to get inside since they know there is food in there. One by one you could see vents closing all around the campsite. Pretty amusing, unless one gets inside your camper:)

We went to bed early and set the alarm to get up for a hike. At 6:00 a.m. the sun had not come up yet and we set off to hike up to Hooker Lake at the bottom of the Glacier. It's about a 3 hour hike. As we turned the corner from behind the bluff we were camped at, we got our first view of Mt. Cook with just the peak getting a glint of sunlight on it. The photos don't do it justice, but it was an AMAZING moment on the trip. We were both almost brought to tears by the view. As we hiked, every turn brought new 'wow' 'cool' 'oh my' and other non-sentences that we both completely understood.

When we reached the lake, we were both floored by the site of what we thought were huge boulders in the water, but turned out to be large chunks of ice that had broken off of the end of the glacier and were slowly moving across the lake as they melted. We still don't know how long it takes to happen, but I kind of get the feeling it's a very slow process. Glaciers move at, well ... glacial speed, except when there's an avalanche!

We hiked back to the car and had a cup of coffee before heading out on a long drive to Dunedin (doo-nee-din). Several cool things to do here. Drink Emerson's beer!!!!! Visit the Yellow-Eyed Penguin Sanctuary. Take the Speight's Brewery Tour, and possibly visit Cadbury World. This is our last stop before we head into the Catlins and Stewart Island. These are two parts of New Zealand that most Kiwis have never seen. It will be our second trip to the Catlins. It is amazing as the photos will show.

One final thing we did last night before going to sleep. Now follow along closely ... Today in New Zealand it is January 23. This is our friend Mike Burns' birthday. However it's only the 22nd in Reno where he lives. So, we were going to wait until the 24th here to call him on the 23rd there. Except the 24th is my birthday and I'm the one who should be getting wished a happy birthday from him, but it's his birthday where he is and by the time it's the 24th in Reno, my birthday would be over. So, to avoid confusion, we waited until it was late enough here that it would be the 23rd in Reno, and still the 23rd here. OK, so we called him pretty late/early in Reno, I think he was still happy to get a phone call from halfway around the world wishing him a happy birthday:)

Hope you enjoy the photos of the mountain, and if you ever get the chance, go see it!!!!!

Eric & Val