Mount Cook

From Omarama we cycled north towards Mount Cook. We could see the white-capped alps in the distance, and grey ominous clouds behind us. We stopped at a salmon farm and fed the salmon and i bought a fillet. By the time we got to SH 80 (the mount Cook road) the clouds had caught up with us and blanketed all the hills and mountains. It was a hard slog up to Mount Cook Village, despite the tail wind. We finally arrived; having done over 95km to the Youth Hostel, to find it had only 2 beds left. They told us we could stay in an Alpine Club Lodge, just 2km back down the road. At that point there was no way we could face turning around and heading into the wind. So we went to a cafe. We parked out bikes outside the glass-fronted cafe, watched by every patron. I ordered a Magnum AND a pot of tea! Erin had 2 cornettos. Julie bumped into a guy she went to university with, in Aberdeen.

After an hour or so we felt revived again, and the backtrack to the Alpine Lodge wasn't nearly as far or as bad as I thought it would be. The Lodge is fantastic - like a souped-up backcountry hut. Plenty of room (we had a huge 14-bed dorm to ourselves); large friendly lounge area with books. Probably a nicer atmosphere than the youth hostel; and great views though the huge windows. There was a group of climbers who were getting prepared to spend 2-3 weeks around Mt Cook, climbing various peaks. They had boxes of food - a stack of king-sized chocolate; boxes of muesli bars... Apparently they were going to get them choppered up to a hut. Dinner was fish chowder and crumble II (even better than the first) for dessert. Julie's friend came for dinner too and was impressed with the homecooked food "I usually live on pasta when travelling".

Unfortunately the cloud is still really low so we probably won't be doing much exploring of the Mount Cook area; there are a few walks but seems a bit pointless when we can't see anything.