By Estella
After spending 3 hours at Puzzling World, His Royal Highness, Amanda and I hit the road once again. This time we were headed for the tallest mountain in New Zealand, Mt Cook, where His Royal Highness had us booked into the swankiest hotel there, The Hermitage. On special at NZD169 through www.wotif.com , it was only NZD4 more than The Brookvale Motel in Wanaka but was a million times more comfortable to live in.
We went down route 8a, after which past Tarras, a small blink and you’ll miss it town, we turned into route 8. We passed the famous Lindis Pass, a road in the shadow of high mountain ranges before arriving at Omarama, then going on to Twizel.
Travelling along route 8a in New Zealand.
A beautiful winter’s day on the road.
Southern Alps at the horizon. It looks near but it was actually several hours away by car.
Pictures just don’t do justice to the jaw-dropping beauty of New Zealand in winter. The way the land is shrouded in mist, with light seeping through around the edges, is something you have to see at least once in your life. It’s pure poetry for the eyes and fodder for the imagination.
Notice the poor visibility? This picture was taken about two in the afternoon. We were between Omarama and Twizel.
Still on the road towards Twizel. See how beautiful the midday sun looks, high above the windswept moors, through the fog?
We were now past Twizel, nearing Lake Pukaki. The trees reminded me of a storybook Christmas.
I don’t care what the bona fide photographers say about the lighting. I love it. It’s so ethereal, so otherworldly.
We’re almost there. A picture of Lake Pukaki on the road towards Mt Cook in New Zealand.
Those are clouds floating above Lake Pukaki, half an hour away from Mt Cook.
Our car was climbing towards Mt Cook. The white things at the back are the Southern Alps.
Have you seen anything more amazing? That’s the Southern Alps in the distance.
That’s a dry creek bed but beautiful all the same.
We’re almost there. A picture of the Southern Alps in New Zealand.
We’re on the home stretch. The Hermitage is less than half a kilometre away.
Accommodation on Mt Cook ranges from backpackers’ hostel to cabins to motel and hotel rooms. We had a reservation at The Hermitage for a room with a view of the Southern Alps.
A picture of some of the cabins in the village on Mt Cook, New Zealand.
We’re here! A picture of HRH outside The Hermitage Hotel on Mt Cook, New Zealand.
It was FREEZING. A picture of me outside The Hermitage on Mt Cook in New Zealand.
A picture of HRH and Amanda on our hotel balcony at The Hermitage on Mt Cook in New Zealand.
A picture of Amanda looking out on the Southern Alps from our hotel balcony on Mt Cook, New Zealand.
A picture of our room at The Hermitage on Mt Cook in New Zealand.
A souvenir shot of my time on Mt Cook. It’s not every day that you wake up with the Southern Alps at your window.
As usual, Amanda found the remote control to the TV. She’s on the floor having a pre-dinner snack of cookies.
Since The Hermitage is reputed to have one of the most awarded restaurants in New Zealand, with fresh produce coming from the surrounding areas, we opted to dine in-house that night. Our other alternative was to find an eatery in the Mt Cook village.
A picture of the three of us in the restaurant at The Hermitage on Mt Cook in New Zealand.
A picture of the restaurant at The Hermitage on Mt Cook in New Zealand.
For a much-lauded eatery in a tourist destination, the prices were reasonable, although I should mention, far from cheap. It only cost a couple of dollars more to order a main there than it would have at somewhere like Lake Tekapo. Our dinner that night came to NZD94, but for that, we had two serves of pan fried, locally-farmed salmon on citrus-infused risotto and Amanda had pasta with loads of finely grated well-aged Parmesan. I’m not usually a fan of rice in any form, but the risotto was very delicious.
Locally-farmed pan fried salmon on a bed of citrus-infused risotto.
Amanda was very pleased with her pasta. The waitress brought her MORE CHEESE upon request. She was chuffed.
You know Estella, it just occurred to me that I spent my 30th birthday in that chalet at Mt Cook that you went to and had dinner in that restaurant! Hope you had a great time! We though had the summer version of what you had…
Mt Cook was just gorgeous. I reckon it’s the kind of place you’d go back to visit at different times of the year just to see what it looks like. What was it like in Summer? Was it hot? Did you go on any of the walks?
….and I just noticed A has lost her front tooth in her beachgirl top!
Hey Pidge,
Amanda has lost 6 teeth so far. 2 have grown back at the bottom. I hope they straighten out when she gets older or else we’ll have to look into braces. Being asinine, she refused to allow us to extract them for her so that the new ones can come out straight.