Mount Cook Trip!

Hi all, have just come back from a fantastic weekend road trip to Mt Cook. Me, James, Becks, Gary and Dyllan headed off on Friday evening for Fairlie, about half way to Cook, to break the journey at Gary's mum's house. We left for Cook the following lunch time, stopping off at the beautiful lake Tekapo and The Church of the Good Shepherd, a place I have been to before, but that I still love going to. A tiny chruch perched on the edge of a beautiful lake, with mountains all around it. We then drove up to an observatory to get a better view of the Southern Alps. On the drive to Cook Village you go past lake Pukaki, a turquoise-blue glacial lake, and on a clear day, you can see Mount Cook Accross the waters. We were so lucky to get this view that day. It was so amazing, possibly my favorite view in the world! So exciting to see Cook, and think that one day I might stand on top of it. I could have stayed there all day looking at that view, but we pressed on to find our cabin in the glentanner complex. We had a tiny cabin, bit of a squeeze with four of us and a baby! But really cosy. We sat out in the sun with a glass of wine and watched a beautiful sunset over Cook.
The next day we headed into Mt Cook village for a look around the visitor centre, and had a lazy day in the sunshine. We did a couple of short walks in th hooker valley, and had a drive down the Tasman Valley, but mainly just took in the beautiful surroundings. A couple of cold beers in the Mt Cook bar went down a treat, and we had a little nosy around the village, finding a campsite from which to base our next adventure. We'd love to come back soon, for a bit longer and do some of the walks in the area, with a hut stay overnight, and I hope to come back to the region with the mountaineering club too.
Back to the cabin for some dinner and a sherry! The boys went hunting that night, and me and Becks chilled at the cabin.
We were lucky enough to have great weather all weekend, until we left and the clouds and rain came. We popped in to Gary's mum's on the way back again, but we had a tired baby to get home, and an even more tired Angela, who had to go do a night shift!
Cant wait to go back!

catching up...

Hey, just thought I ought to get you up to speed on what's been going on, its been a while since i updated my blog, and I hate for you all to think that I'd forgotten you! The weather has been a bit more iffy over the last few weeks, the sunshine has been interspersed with some heavy rain, and even snow! This had put paid to a couple of climbing trips unfortunately, as has work. Boo to working weekends! I have decided to cut down my hours at work anyway, so long as finance allows, so more free time makes Ange a very happy girlie indeed!
Anyway, the last few weeks I've been out into the Port Hills climbing once, at a sport crag called Britten Crag at Mount Pleasant, with Sarah and Brett. I ended up climbing next to famous mountaineer Stephen Venables! How exciting. Me and James also had a look at Castle Rock, another great looking crag in the port hills, which we will save for a sunny day!
I've been exploring the local area a bit more, with a drive to Diamond Harbour the weekend before last (forgot the camera though, sorry!!!). Its a beautiful little harbour on the banks penninsular, just a short drive from the city, a great place to hang out and chill, and a very scenic drive there. I've also been exploring the shops! (suprise, suprise)mainly to stock up on camping gear for our next adventure!
Not a lot of other news, been planning trips to Fjiordland and Southland for next year, and have a long weekend in Mt Cook Village next weekend, so watch this space for great pics of beautiful scenery (fingers crossed for the weather!!)
Oh and I wont go into too much detail but there may have been a small tree climbing episode after a few too many wines, all good practise you understand, and very elegantly done I'm sure! Thank God we definately did NOT have the camera then!!
I hope all are well back home, missing you lots but having far too much fun to come home, so I hope you are all saving for your tickets to NZ....
xxxx