Friday April 23rd, 2010
Day 12
The Road Trip is Almost at an End.
We woke up in the morning and had some cornflakes (we used our cups as bowls and some plastic spoons). After paying for accommodation and saying goodbye to the owner we hit the road.
Today was Mount Aoraki (aka Mount Cook) day and we began our drive up to the mountain. Along the way we came across Lake Punaki, which is absolutely stunning. The color of the water is a milky aquamarine. The clouds overhead seemed to have been brushed onto the sky. We stopped and I jumped past the rocks to get up close to the water for some pictures. Afterwards, I kept driving in what I thought was the right direction.
Wrong. First of all the road was not going in an incline as most mountain roads do nor did the scenery change that much. It wasn’t until we were in Fairlie that I realized I had missed the mountain completely.
We checked the map, and it was going to take us about another hour to drive back and 30 minutes to get to the mountain from the turn off that I missed. There was nothing really to see from Fairlie to Christchurch and so I made the decision to turn back. Needless to say, the Missus was fuming at the wasted daylight time, but I opted to pay for the gas seeing as it was my fault for not checking the map carefully before driving. Just going only slightly above the speed limit, we made our way back.
We made it back to the turn off towards Mount Cook/Aoraki in one hour and started on the road to the mountain area. The road to Mount Aoraki is the most picturesque road I have ever driven, seriously. To the right is the beautiful Lake Punaki and ahead and to the left are mountains that seem to surround you and enclose you. Rays of light cut through the clouds and hit the lake and the mountains creating a breathtaking light show. However, as we got closer to the visitor centre located at the base of the mountain, the sky had completely turned from a bright blue hue to a dismal grey. When we got out of the car, the cold air and moisture hits you. Half an hour of driving and we were in a different world.
When we finally got up close to the “Cloud Piercer” we were a bit disappointed. Clouds and fog obscured the view and the area surrounding the base of the mountain just seemed very grey.
We checked out the visitor centre that had a quote on display that hit me deeply:
Though the author of the quote is talking about mountain climbing, I related it to martial arts. In mortal combat, one gets a glimpse of the reality of existence. To face death is to know life. There are safer ways to challenge oneself be it in the realm of mountain climbing or martial arts but the idea to place oneself in a very true, primal experience is still there.
After the visitor centre we had a salmon and spinach pizza at the hotel just up the walking path. It was very tasty (much to Apo’s delight) but was very small (much to my dismay).
After, we went to go see the Tasman Glacier, but as Lonely Planet said, it’s “a bit dirty looking” and was not very impressive.
We left the Mount Aoraki/Cook area and made our way towards Christchurch. It was getting quite dark when we arrived in Geraldine (about 140 km out from Christchurch) and decided to find a caravan park here for the night. We found one and YES, they had cooking utensils =).
That night, after doing some shopping at a local supermarket, Apo stewed up some chicken drumsticks with porridge and vegetables. Cold nights and porridge go together like ice cream on a summer’s day so I didn’t mind at all having porridge again. As we ate dinner we watched American Idol on a small TV they had in the kitchen (I especially liked the singer/guitarist Tim Urban).
Thinking back, I realized that the highlight of the day was not our main destination (Mount Aroaki/Cook) but the road there.
Today was our last full day on the road. It has been fun, but I’m eager to see family and sleep in a warm bed. Till then.
DT: 71.35
RT: 1146.8
RDA: 95.57
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