Mount Cook Village

Lake Pukaki.

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We left Queenstown bright and early for the last leg of our coach trip. The journey to Christchurch would have taken the best part of a day so we decided to break our journey at Mount Cook Village.

The journey took us through one of the most arid parts of the country, where man-made resevoirs had been erected to bring in the water. It was at this point that our coach driver explained to us the reason for this area being so dry. The valley in which Mount Cook lies just so happens to be one of the wettest places on earth, hogging all the rainfall in the shadow of the Southern Alps, levaing none for the surrounding area. Sure enough as we travelled along in the bright sunshine, we could see the valley up ahead covered in thick cloud. As we neared the village the clouds kept getting thicker and the rain started to get heavier. There are plenty of walks on offer in the Mount Cook Village area, but with the rain we opted to relax and spent the rest of the day reading and playing cards. During the night there was a huge thunder and lightening storm, which seemed to clear things up a bit and by morning it was at least dry. By this point however, our enthusiasm for the place had faded, we were both thinking too much about Christchurch, where we intend to spend the next two months. We sat around at the hostel in the morning before catching our final coach at lunch time. As we left the valley and headed towards the Canterbury plains, the clouds receded and the sun shone again, much better. We never did get a clear view of the mountain!