New Zealand, South Island Day 4 - Mount Cook

Day 4 (11 June 2016)

Lake Tekapo - Lake Pukaki - Peter's Lookout - Hooker Valley Trail (Mt Cook)

This morning we decided to try out a sad looking café which was just beside Run 76. The review from the tripadvisor was not amazing, but dear Shadow wanted to try it out. We went in with the idea of ordering a Chicken burger to check out the quality of the food. Surprisingly, it tasted good. And here's our cheap and great breakfast at Doughboy Bakery café. :)

As usual, we had eggs and bacons (my type of breakfast during holiday trips) and a chicken burger, and not forgetting a cup of hot mocha. :)

We bid goodbye to our stay for the last 2 nights and started our trip to Mt John.

Along the way, we passed by Lake Pukaki. The beautiful mountain which looks so familiar for shadow as he enjoys watching LOTR movies which is an alien to me. 

After that we continued on Highway 80 towards Mt Cook / Aoraki National Park, we stopped by at Peter Lookout for some photos.

Before reaching the Mt Cook village, there is a sign on the road which said Hooker Valley. We followed the sign and that's kick start our 3.5hr of hooker valley trail. 

The start of the trail which is a relatively easy path as compared to yesterday as it is quite flat.

There were 3 swingbridge in total for the whole hike. As seen in the photo, the  maximum load for each bridge is 20 person. 

After crossing the 3rd bridge, there is a small hut  and toilet facilities.  

The walk from the 3rd bridge to the glacier lake was very windy. It doesn't helps that it was raining too. Many times I felt as though I will be blown away. 

Along the way, we saw a guy who tried to cross the bridge in another way. Definitely very daring as it was a strong gushing river at the bottom. 

After the hike, we checked into our stay for the night - Aoraki Court Motel. Our room came with a Jacuzzi which was pretty useful after a long hike. :)

 

 

Being an off peak season, there were only 2 restaurants which were opened in Mt Cook village. One being the expensive Hermitage hotel while the other being the YHA backpacker resort. We decided to go for the 2nd one which is nearer to our motel as the sky was very dark and there were no streetlights on the road at one. 

Surprisingly the pork ribs and the blue cod fish and chips that we had tasted pretty well. There were even a free salad bar where we had our greens. :)