Aoraki / Mount Cook
During our drive from Moeraki to Mt Cook we took a little detour to see the Elephant Rocks, some formations that with some imagination look like enormous sleeping beasts. They were used as Aslan's base camp in the Chronicles of Narnia.
We also passed various lakes along the way, including Lake Aviemore and Lake Pukaki. The lakes further up the Waitaki Valley are all an amazing turquoise blue due to the sediment in the glacial melt water.
Once at Mount Cook (known as Aoraki - Cloud Piercer - in Maori), we went for a hike up the Hooker Valley, which took about three hours. It took us over two swing bridges up to Hooker Lake, with stunning views over Mount Cook and several other peaks in the area.
As we drove along the shores of Lake Pukaki on our way to Queenstown, we noticed a fire on the other side of the lake. We stopped at a lookout point for dinner and as we were cooking, a fire department vehicle pulled up and asked us to pack everything away so it wouldn't blow away as a helicopter aiding in putting out the fire was about to land. All quite exciting!
