Day 22 - Saturday 4th October

A stormed passed through Dunedin last night. Other people in our tour group were woken during the storm but I slept through it. In the morning it was still raining and there was snow and sleet on some of the cars parked outside the hotel.

However, when we got back from breakfast, there was some blue sky and the sun was rising above the buildings outside our room.

It was another early start. We had our bags ready for pickup at 6:45am and went down for breakfast. The bus left at 7:45am.

It was very cold outside when we left the hotel to get on the bus. As we travelled north, it started to rain and then we saw sleet and some light snow. There was snow on the mountains and on the side of the road. A grader came past us and I assume they had been clearing the snow from the road ahead of us.

The first stop was at the Moeraki Boulders. These are a group of rounded rocks on the shoreline at Koekohe Beach. They were formed from sea floor sediments around 60 million years ago. They vary in size from small rocks up to large boulders about 3m in diameter.

Luckily by the time we stopped here, it was sunny and there was plenty of blue sky. However it was still cold. At the top above the beach, there is a cafe, a gift shop and timber steps leading down to the beach.

Next we stopped at Oamaru. Apparently this used to be a prosperous thriving port in the 1800s. Many of these 1800s buildings are still standing. The main street was built wide enough to accommodate bullock teams.

It was very cold with a strong wind making it even colder. Suzy and Yolanda went shopping while I wandered the streets and wharf area taking photos.

We stopped at Benmore Dam which is one of the hydro-electric power stations in a series of attractive lakes. It was a great photo opportunity. While we were there, Michael solved my problem with auto-focus on my camera - I must have pressed the wrong button at our previous stop. I was very grateful for his expertise.

The lunch stop was at the Merino Country Cafe at Omarama. There wasn't much else in this town other than the cafe. Once again it was very cold outside.

Next we stopped at Peters Lookout at Lake Pukai. This is yet another beautiful lake.

We reached the Hermitage hotel near Mt Cook at 2:45pm. This is a modern hotel consisting of two buildings connected by an enclosed elevated walkway. Our room is on level 6 in the rear building with a fabulous view looking directly at Mt Cook. There were some clouds hiding the top of Mt Cook.

It was a large room but I later realised that part of the reason it felt so spacious was that it had no cupboards. It has air conditioning and WiFi.

The hotel is slightly elevated on the hillside at the base of one of the many mountains in the valley. A guide later told us that this is the fourth hotel on this site. The previous hotels had been destroyed by flood, fire or landslide. I'm not sure that this information made us feel particularly comfortable about the location.

Our tour to the lake at Mt Cook was due to depart at 3:15pm. The first bus they put us on was only small (and crowded and uncomfortable) but they offloaded us from this bus when they realised that it had a flat tyre. The next bus was much bigger and more comfortable.

It was a 10 minute trip by bus followed by a 20 minute walk ( about 1.5km) before we reached the lake. It was a magic setting - a beautiful blue lake next to the snow-capped mountains.

On the small wharf, there were three rubber ducky boats waiting for us.The organisers told us that we weren't allowed to take anything on board except a camera and so we had to leave backpacks etc in a locked box on the shore near the wharf.

The first step was to put on life jackets.We'd been forewarned to be well rugged up for the cold and so I had on my thick fleece, warm spray jacket, scarf, beanie, gloves - plus the life jacket. Overall it was very bulky.

They then slowly and carefully helped us on to the boats - one or two people at a time. By this time, it was about 4pm.

As each boat got its full load of passengers, it sped off on a guided tour of the lake. I had been expecting an hour of wild rides on the water. Instead the lake was flat and quiet. It was an ideal sunny sky giving a great view of lake and surrounding snow-covered mountains including Mt Cook.

Our guide took us first to a collection of icebergs that were floating in the lake. He explained how the icebergs were formed, how the lake was formed and how the glacier was formed. Apparently a small puddle forms on the surface of the glacier which is then heated by the sun and so more of the glacier melts.

Currently the lake is expanded faster than the glacier is growing. I had expected a lecture on global warming but he didn't mention it once.

I had expected him to tell us that the lake had been there for thousands of years but I was amazed to learn that it was only formed in 1990. He said the lake changes all the time - even from one tour group to the next.

Towards the end of the tour he took us to within about 200m of the edge of the glacier. He wouldn't go any closer because there was a large ice shelf just below the lake's surface between us and the glacier. Periodically this ice shelf pops up out of the water and causes a huge wave that floods the surrounding area - including the wharf where we'd left our backpacks.

He also explained that landslides are a regular event.

Before the tour, we'd been required to sign indemnity forms. It was becoming apparent why this outing was so risky. The organisers couldn't guarantee our safety and they didn't want to be sued if a calamity occurred.

We returned safely to the wharf at about 5:15pm, took off our life jackets and walked back to the bus. On the earlier walk from the bus to the lake, I'd started to get warm and so I'd taken off my jacket, scarf, gloves and fleece. By the time we were heading back, it was get colder and so I started rugging up again. The bus got us back to our hotel by about 6pm.

We met in the bar for drinks at 6:30pm and had dinner at 7pm. The hotel restaurant is very big and has huge full-height windows at one end that give an amazing view straight out to the snow-capped mountains including Mt Cook. It was a very nice buffet with plenty of choice.

Towards the end of the meal, I went to take some photos. It was a great photo opportunity - perfect timing - because the clouds were no longer hiding the top of Mt Cook. Instead the top of the mountain was bathed in sunlight.