The reason why we've stopped in Lake Takepo for the night is that it's nearby Mount Cook, our must-do for today. The forecast for the morning is awesome! And by awesome, I mean not raining. We leave after breakfast, around 9AM, which is an early start for us compared to the last few rainy days where we've had to fight the urge to duck back under heated sheets. Have I mentioned that a lot of these B&Bs have heated sheets! It's a still a bit cool, but the sun is shining and we head north towards the mountain.  Riding up towards Mount Cook, you can see it in the distance ahead. Cloud cover is pretty heavy, but at least it's not raining! Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand. Perpetually snow-capped, it is the target of many mountain-climbers who seek to conquer the peak, battling the area's frequent storms and the mountain's steep ice and snow faces. The majority of tourists just come to hike the many trails around the area, or gawk and take pictures (we're of the latter variety).  On our way to Mount Cook, we run across a herd of sheep being shepherded by a group of dogs. For me, this is the definitive New Zealand motorcycling picture!  I could hear Neda giggling like a madman inher helmet behind me. All the sheep looked like the waters of a raging river all around us!  This morning is rainless again, hallelujah! However, to get a good view of Mount Cook, it has to be relatively cloudless, as the peaks are fairly high up. We were not blessed with clear weather (obviously asking too much here), so most of the pictures of clouds that we took here - that's Mount Cook... Neda is a fan of hiking, whereas I am a fan of sleeping, so these are her pictures on her hike on the trails around the mountain. During my wait for her, I find a wireless hotspot and surf for a bit. The Internet service in NZ has been quite good, there's wi-fi almost everywhere you go. Next trip we'll have to bring two laptops though, I've been quite busy in the evenings typing out the blogs and downloading all the pictures and Neda misses her laptop. Maybe something a little smaller for the bike though.  So happy the sun is out! But for how long?!?  View of Mount Cook from one of the suspension bridges on the trail  The aforementioned suspension bridge. Too cloudy to see the peaks.  In front of a monument dedicated to all the climbers who have died scaling Mount Cook. So young! Most of them were all in their late-20s-early-30s.  This is my "How long is this hike?" look... After spending the morning surfing, I mean, hiking at Mount Cook, we hop on the bike and ride non-stop to Christchurch. The weather gets colder and darker and we're now racing against the rain clouds that have been forecasted for later in the day. Despite this, we opt to take the "scenic inland route" instead of the main hwy 1 north to Christchurch. What a mistake. Scenic means farmland. 200 kms of the same flat green fields and tall cypress trees by the side of the road. Half-way, it got interesting as we passed the Rakaia River and rode past the gorge, but that lasted all of 5 kms of twisty roads.  Encountering another classic car on the way up to Mount Cook  Check out the fantastic reflection on Lake Pukaki! Today We covered around 400 kms to arrive in town around 7PM. I'm amazed at how small the island is, if you rode all day with minimal stops, you could probably ride around the whole island in less than three days. When we do arrive in Christchurch, we have to be on our guard again with traffic spanning multiple lanes and intersections, as the drivers have become noticeably unmindful of motorcyclists. We're back where we started and tomorrow is the last day with the bikes. :( We're very sad that it's almost over, this country is beautiful and we wish we could stay longer!
|
