Mt. Cook or Aoraki "Cloud-Piercer" at sunset

Lake Pukaki and the evaporation zone. I just coined that term, by the way. The place I stayed at was about 25 km from Mt. Cook, and was located in the shadows by the lake.

I encountered some sheep while hiking to this ridge. I was sneezing the whole way up because, apparently, I am allergic to them.

Mt. Cook and Lake Pukaki. Lakes Pukaki and Tekapo have a brilliant color, but are not clear because of glacial flour. It's kind of nasty, if you think about it.

Lake Tekapo and the Church of the Good Shepherd. Sort of looks like something out of Middle Earth.

Going to Arthur's Pass

I can't get enough of the mountains. Ha ha! Last week I headed to Mt Cook, or Aoraki "Cloud-Piercer" from Christchurch (or ChCh, apparently). It is the highest mountain in Australasia at 3755 meters. I'm not sure what defines "Australasia", but whatever. I went on a couple of day hikes to see the magnificent glacier valley and views of the ice-laden peaks. On the first day there wasn't anyone else on the four-hour hike except loads of sheep. From Mt Cook, I went to Queentown, which has been dubbed the "adrenaline capital of New Zealand" because I think the first commercial bungee-jump started there. They also offer skydiving, jetboating, rock climbing, mountain biking, kayaking, parasailing, and whitewater rafting. I took a daytrip (13 hours) to Milford Sound, a fiord that has been dubbed the "eighth wonder of the world" like hundreds of other places. It was drizzling and raining, but the waterfalls were quite impressive. But I couldn't join the hordes of tourists leaping from one side of the boat to the other side, to take pictures of the same looking waterfalls. Oh, what a spoil-sport. Anyways, it was then that I decided I wasn't going to do all the "must-do" tourist trips (traps). Back in Queenstown, I went on a couple of long day hikes. The second day I hiked to the top of Ben Lomond Peak, which is right over Queenstown. It was windy and hailing on top, but the 360 degree view was worth it. From Lake Wakatipu, it was about 4700 vertical feet to the top. I hiked along the ridge all alone. I thought I might get blown off in my billowing jacket. The past few days I've been at Fox Glacier for a couple nights and Franz Josef Glacier (last night). These places are on the west coast, where they get all the rain. Interestingly, this place has a rainforest that comes right up to the glacier. Who would have thought that could happen? I learned that these glaciers are actually growing, because of increased precipitation due to global warming. Yeah, pretty wierd. Right now I am in Greymouth, waiting for a bus to go to Arthur's Pass. It's on the cross-island highway between Greymouth and ChCh on the South Island. There are supposed to be some great hikes and vistas there. I think I'll be there for a few days.
So New Zealand has been pretty amazing so far. It has incredible views (if you've see the Lord of the Ring movies, then you know what I mean). It's really clean around here. There is hardly any litter to speak of on the road side. People are much more environmentally-friendly here than they are in Australia. In the South Island, there aren't really a lot of people here. There isn't a lot of traffic, aside from the tourists. My first impression is that the Maori culture does not suffer discrimination nearly as much as the Aboriginal culture in Australia. It's really an interesting relationship here. I was watch tv and there was a news program on that was entirely in Maori. Anyways, this is quite an interesting country. The weather is much colder and wetter than Australia, but the sights are well worth the visit.