Pete Grant
Dec 2007 to February 2008
Wednesday, February 13th. Departed Queenstown and drove to Wanaka via the Cardrona pass. One thing (among others) I have forgotten to mention is that I see a lot of Subaru Imprezas here. Apparently it's a popular car with the New Zealanders.
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| Hey, look! I got a haircut! | The road between Queenstown and Wanaka | Lynda's toy |
| On Thursday the 14th -- Valentine's day -- I hiked up to the Aspiring Lodge. The hike began in the same place as my Rob Roy track last week; in fact, the first kilometer was the same trail. To reach the trailhead involved driving on a gravel road about 35km (23 miles) through a farm country. It was a fairly easy, although long trail following a Jeep trail for about 95% of the distance. The last kilometer before reaching the hut was wet and I got my shoes and socks thoroughly soaked! The hut itself was surprisingly well equipped gas stoves in the kitchen -- but no electricity. If I ever make it back here, the hut system is THE way to go! | |
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| There were sheep | and cattle |
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| Start of the hike | View of Mt Aspiring | The same glacier as I saw from the Rob Roy hike a few days ago, but from a different direction. |
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| Much of the trail was through cow pastures | This is my turf -- stay off! | Getting closer... |
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| Uh oh, them clouds are causing me to be concerned | Made it! Here's the hut -- more like a hostel |
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| A final view back towards Mt Aspiring |
The night of February 13th it rained almost all night. In the morning of the 14th I called Lynda to wish her happy Valentine's day and also mentioned the rain. What I didn't know at the time was that the rain fell in the form of snow at higher elevations. As I made my way to the bathroom to take a shower, I looked up towards the nearby mountains and was awed by the sight of snow. I thought about turning around and getting my camera but then thought the sight would still be there after I took my shower. I was wrong! The clouds rolled in and completely hid the spectacle from view. I felt like kicking myself for not taking the picture when I had the chance! Later on I managed to take some snow photos where the newly fallen snow was visible but none of the scenes were as awesome as what I saw on the way to the shower earlier in the morning. Below are two photos taken from Wanaka of mountains farther away than the ones I saw on the way to take a shower. |
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| Fresh snow on the mountains in the Mt Aspiring National Park This is supposed to be summer??? |
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| The rest of the day (14th) was spent on driving to Christchurch, stopping many times on the way for some photos -- mostly of the snowfall |
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