Wednesday 4 Feb

We were on the move again, heading by coach for the gliding capital of New Zealand, Omarama - not to glide, but to stay a couple of nights in this nowhere place and our stepping off point to visit Mount Cook. There were lots of short stops en-route - the original bungee-jumping bridge over the Kawarau gorge, Mrs Jones' Fruit Garden (to buy some fruit no less), Cromwell Old Town, and the Lindis Pass. We were leaving the green, high rocky mountains for drier, rounded and browner hills.
We also visited the Bannockburn sluicings, where the gold miners had made a real mess (now covered with wild thyme or vineyards) by washing away an astonishing amount of alluvium to release gold particles. It was a warm, gravelly walk through the workings and up onto the original terrace surface level, where the remains of a reservoir and the ruins of Stewart Town lay. There was more excitement, however, with the discovery of two apricot trees on the site of Stewart Town, leading to some serious scrumping activity and to David demonstrating his tree-climbing skills.

David up an apricot tree, scrumping

After checking in at the hotel in Omarama we set off again in the bus to visit Omarama's answer to Bryce Canyon - the Clay Cliffs - actually sand and gravel, not clay. Like Bryce the erosion of the coloured deposits has left extraordinary towers, ribs and gullies in the soft rocks. Clay Cliffs are just less colourful, and much, much smaller.

Exploring the Clay Cliffs

Thursday 5 Feb

The day dawned dry, but overcast with some low cloud hanging on the hills around Omarama. It didn't seem the best start for a day to visit New Zealand's highest peak, Mount Cook. However, as we drove towards the mountains the sky gradually cleared. Mount Cook was still obscured as we drove alongside Lake Pukaki, but cleared soon after, so we had a rapid photo stop before heading for the Visitor's Centre for trail and weather information - needed as David and Malcolm wanted to head up towards the Mueller Hut, rather than join the rest of us heading for the Hooker Glacier. By now the temperature was rising and there were no clouds in the sky - a perfect day for seeing the peaks and hanging glaciers all around.

Approaching Mount Cook

We joined the trail of walkers heading up the Hooker Valley, over the various moraines with some alpine flowers still evident, to the lake at the foot of the glacier. This was a perfect spot for lunch, watching the small icebergs in the lake and listening out for avalanches high up on the mountain slopes. Whilst Ruth, Ivan and Rita set off to try the near vertical path up to Sealy Tarns the rest of us contented ourselves with the walk to Kea point, which overlooks the lake at the foot of the Mueller Glacier. The scale of the landscape really became evident when the sweet wrappers we saw floating on the lake turned out, when viewed through binoculars, to be kayakers! A few puffy clouds were clinging to the mountain slopes above us, but Mount Cook stayed clear for the whole day. A perfect mountain day at Mount Cook Village ended with the group reassembled in the Hermitage Hotel cafe and bar alongside Sir Edmund Hillary (well, his statue actually) who was looking wistfully up at the peaks.

Walking up the Hooker Valley, Mount Cook ahead.

Friday 6 Feb

The beginning of the end, leaving Omarama on another fine and dry day to drive to Christchurch. However, we hadn't finished with Mount Cook yet, as it was visible from two photo-stops, and again from the summit of Mount John above Lake Tekapo, where we did our last 300m ascent of the holiday. The landscape was very different here - a high and dry plateau of dried grass, with ranges of distant  mountains in all directions. Dan, the driver, was very keen to show us the hydro-electric engineering wonders of the area - mainly the large canals connecting the lakes - all filled with blue water of shades taken straight from a 2009 Dulux paint catalogue. We saw several salmon farms in the canals, and wondered if the salmon came out coloured too.....

Panorama looking west(ish) from Mount John

All too soon we were back on the Canterbury plains - flat as the proverbial pancake, with long straight roads lined with high conifer hedges. Both here, and on the plateau around Omarama, it looked as though agriculture only exists thanks to a huge investment in irrigation - once or twice the rotating gantries managed even to spray the coach as it passed!

The group, spoiling the view of Mount Cook!

Saturday 7 Feb

The last day before flying out in the evening. Three of the group had already departed by the time we headed to breakfast, and as it was a free day the rest of the group headed off in different directions for the day, before gathering to be taken to the airport. What a great tour!


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