Even though we're moving on to Mt. Cook today, Queenstown decided it had one more adventure for us before we left. This morning we had a little earthquake. Nothing big, a 4-point-something in the Milford Sound area, but it was enough to shake the floor and rattle the doors just enough to make you wonder "was that an earthquake, or did I just imagine that?".
Our drive today took us through the central Otago wine region, known primarily for Pinot Noir. Here the scenery was a little less dramatic than the rugged cliffs we've seen for the last few days, although this area reminded me quite a bit of Napa and Sonoma. It's late summer here and just about harvest time, so many of the vines have large nets thrown over them or strung up and down the rows covering the grape clusters to help keep the birds away from the fruit.
Along the way we made a brief pit stop in Omarama. This area is sheep country, home of Icebreaker knitwear, fine NZ merino wool, and most notably Shrek the sheep, NZ's famous 4-legged resident. As we learned from our guide Geoff, Shrek is a wily old sheep who managed to escape muster and shearing for several years before finally being rounded up. When he was brought in, he was a great big giant puffball of several years worth of wool. Shrek became a big national news story (obviously it was a slow news day) and put Omarama on the map. Google it if you have a spare 15 seconds - the pics of Shrek in all his woolly glory are quite amusing. Here's a quick link: http://lofiland.com/omg/misc/shrek/shreksheep.jpg
Just outside of Mt. Cook National Park we stopped in Twizel at the Kaki/Black Stilt Visitor Hide. The black stilt is one of the rarest wading birds in the world and on the brink of extinction due to the introduction of non-native predators like stoats, ferrets, feral cats, and hedgehogs to the birds' natural habitat. As a result, the species has been the subject of intense conservation management, from egg harvesting and incubation to predator management, which we heard an overview of at the center. Here's a look at these rare little critters enjoying their lunch (you don't want to know what this is - trust me):
From there it was on to Mount Cook. Keeping with the theme of everywhere we've visited on this trip, this area is quite stunning. For the next two days, we get to look at views of Mt. Cook and Mt. Sefton and the glaciers. Here's a sample:
After settling in, we grabbed our gear and head out on a hike up to Red Tarns. This was a short but no joke hike. The total round trip distance was only 2.5 miles, but 1,119 ft of elevation gain (and the village of Mt. Cook sits at about 2,500 ft to start). So all of that elevation gain came over only a mile and a quarter, and all of it was stairs for 45 mins straight. After sitting in a bus all day this hike kicked my ass, but did give us some great views:
Our guide Josh explaining the flammable qualities of the turpentine plant (although what he was really doing is giving us a chance to catch our breath and he was bored of twiddling his thumbs waiting for us):
After speaking with Josh, turns out today's hike is only a preview of tomorrow's hike to Mueller Hut, which is around 4,000 ft of elevation gain and about 1.5-2 hours worth of steps, followed by a very steep and equally long scramble to the hut. If today's hike is any indication, tomorrow's hike is gonna suck donkey balls, but the day I've been training for over the last several weeks is finally here. I got this.
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