Mt. Cook and Glaciers

Leading up to this trip was insane. It was the end of crunch time for work, so I had a few final assignments to hand in plus I was leaving for Samoa on the subsequent Tuesday. We had off Monday for the Queen’s Birthday, and I and 8 others (Hillary, Andee, Sara, Michael, Louis, Paige, Nina, and Kris) were off to Samoa on Tuesday for the next week. It was a crazy departure, again late at night because I had to have a Samoa meeting plus pack my bags for the next 10 days. It got done and eventually we made it to Wanaka that night.
The next morning we spent checking out some of Wanaka and then pushing off towards Fox and Franz-Joseph Glaciers. It was a decently long drive into Fox, but the company was top notch. We even formed a band, Five-Ply. Then we stopped in and looked at Fox glacier which was pretty cool. The night we crashed in Franz-Joseph where the next morning we would hike up the glacier. We made dinner and I taught them Bang, which became a nice pass-time for the rest of the trip.
The next day was a little panicked as we couldn’t find Schwartz’ hiking boots or the keys to Estelle. Turns out I had the keys in my bag somewhere, stupid me. Anyways, half the group, Jase, LittleFoot, and Mike were doing the shorter hike, while Gwen and I tackled the full day excursion. The glacier was really awesome. You hike about 45 minutes up through the glacial valley where it used to be but has been receding for the past few centuries.
Once we arrive close to it, we had to swing around the side of it because of falling ice and rock hazards. The glacier sounds alive because it was creaking and dropping small stones and rocks down its side. We took a break before actually mounting the ice-giant to put on crampon and get instructions. The guides have to cut out ice stairs for you to climb so we waited while they did that and set ropes. Glaciers are constantly changing, so new formations appear quite often and old trails disappear. Every two weeks or so the guides find that the glacier is completely different and must cut out different paths. The whole experience was super cool, pun intended, but some of the highlights were climbing up the ice walls, the amazing blue color of the ice/water, a pool that was about 30 meters deep, and the cool ice caves you could climb through. Suffice it to say it was a unique and spectacular time.
Following the glacial walk, we hopped back in the car and to Wanaka where we spent the night. The next day we drove into Mt. Cook National Park and crashed there for the night. We had a good band practice with some Bang. The next morning we did the Hooker trail which lead us to a sweet lake with icebergs floating in it and another trail that lead to a cool view of the tallest mountain in NZ, Mt. Cook. It was a glorious day except that it was too cold for Estelle. Her battery isn’t her strong point, so we tried to push start her after searching for someone with jumpers. Finally, we conceded to calling the nearby Hermitage where they sent someone to jump us for $20.
Finally we headed back to Christchurch to drop me off in order to meet up with the rest of the Samoa crew. It was not Estelle’s day as she had some overheating problems on the way back, forcing us to pull over several times. Eventually we got her cooled down and made it into Christchurch where they left me. I found my way to where the other’s would be dropped off and ran into Louis. The rest of the tale belongs under the adventure of Samoa.