Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park

We totally slept in today. It was lovely. The days are so long here (sun is up by 6 a.m. and doesn't go down until close to 9:45 pm) that we get kind of spoiled. I love it!

Once we go up and going, we stopped for smoothies (so fresh and yummy here) and got takeaway salads to have a picnic once we got to the mountains. It was a good idea because there was nothing between Queenstown and Mt. Cook! We saw maybe 4 gas stations. That was it! I cannot think of a place like that left in the United States...if there is, we have not been there yet. 

Anyway, the roads here leave a bit to be desired. On top of driving on the left (which I've gotten pretty good at except for backing out of parking spaces which still feels so weird), they also do not have interstates or roads with more than two lanes. They have all of this space and still have several one-lane bridges on major roads. They even acknowledge this fact with signs reading, "Roads in New Zealand is different. Allow more time." The American in me just wants to know why they don't fix the roads. :) The terrain lends itself to winding, climbing roads and that is what we did for 3 hours to get to Mt. Cook.

It. Was. Worth. Every. Second.

Mt. Cook in the distance

We opted to take the most popular route in the park because it was supposed to be easy (which my bum knee needed) and super scenic. The internet did not lie. It was both! Hooray!

Jackson, unfazed by the bridge

A view from the bridge*
*Taken by Jackson, I did not stand on them for any
longer than I absolutely had to

Jackson photographed just how quickly
I moved across those bridges-- leaving him in the dust!

Stunning.

A few glaciers

Jackson photobombing me

Jackson hanging out on one of the THREE bridges we had to cross

Practicing with Jackson's new selfie stick- HA!

Working on my new toothless smile, still.

Petefish.

ICEBERGS

Glacial melt

A pano of the trail

A lot of the trail was this wooden plank with chicken wire on it
(for grip on rainy/snowy days); I told you it was an easy "hike"

The view from the bathroom

We made the roughly 6 mile walk in a couple of hours. We stopped to take pictures and just soak it all in. We also had to deal with crowds by New Zealand standards. It was not bad, but you wish people were a bit more considerate when walking in groups.

After a few hours of hanging out we began the journey home. It was a LONG day in the car making what was not an easy drive, but it was totally worth it to see Mt. Cook! What a beauty!