After a 4 hour drive we arrived at the Mt. Cook NP Lodge. It's a very nice facility at the base of the mountain and within walking distance to the glacier.

Mount Cook National Park

March 14, 2016
68°F
75% Humidity
Fair

We have a great view of Mt. Cook from our balcony.

In case you were wondering, Mt. Cook is 12,218 feet high. I was surprised to learn that Mt Cook is higher than Schilthorn and Eiger which we visited in Switzerland. Just doesn't seem right a small island in the Pacific would have such tall mountains.

We had just sat down to enjoy a beer and check our email when we found out there was a good chance it would rain tomorrow. So if we wanted to hike to the glacier we had better do it now. It was about a 6 mile hike. We made it two thirds and turned around. Later we learned you really don't get to walk up and touch the glacier. Rather you can observe it from one end of a lake where it terminates at the other end.

March 15, 2016
56°F
100% Humidity
Rain

Good thing we walked the Hooker Valley yesterday because today our outside activities got blocked by rain. We can't even see the glacier today because it is covered in clouds. Notice the difference in the view from our balcony.

That's Mt Cook in the middle of the photograph with it's peak hidden in the clouds.

There are 3 suspension bridges on the way to the glacier.

This is the trailhead for the Hooker Valley track.

This is bridge #2

We never made it to bridge #3

On the way back I got this shot of the valley.
Look close and you can see the Hermitage Lodge.

Yesterday

Today

So, what does one do when its raining outside?

The Hermitage Lodge has a wonderful museum and theater. The highlight was a 1 hour 15 minute documentary about Sir Edward Hillary. He is best known as the first person to ascend Mount Everest (1953) and then the first person to reach the South Pole overland and subsequently reach the North Pole.

Turns out Hillary was born in Auckland and learned mountaineering in the Mount Cook area. He is legend in this area for being the first person to ascend Mount Cook's difficult south face.

The documentary was especially interesting because he talks about his early inferiority complex and tragic loss of his wife and daughter in an airplane crash.

He died in 2008.