Last South Island Adventures

Well, I've finally gotten to the end of the first chapter of our trip, the 5-weeks touring around the South Island (we are right now - 21 March - in Brisbane, Australia visiting friends before returning to finish our exploration of Aotearoa's North Island).  A few highlights:

The Moeraki Boulders - North of Dunedin, on our way to Mount Cook, we stopped to marvel at these mysterious, spherical rocks.  Their formation started about 65 million years ago as calcium seafloor sediments, eventually "concretizing" as part of the land as it was lifted up over the millenia.  The spheres then essentially fell out of the cliffs as they were eroded by the sea, falling onto the beach, there to come full circle as waves and tides eventually break them apart.

Maori Rock Paintings - The paintings, less than 200 years old, reminded us of the Aboriginal rock art  we saw in the Red Center of Australia, though the latter were a bit older.

Mount Cook - You may recall the post about our heli-splurge from the West Coast to see Aoraki/Mount Cook, its sister peaks, and their glorious glaciers.  We had planned to see the 12,000 foot mountain from the other (east) side as the last stop for our campervan tour.  We were fortunate again to have a glorious day to hike the Hooker Valley with panoramic views of Aoraki - where Edmund Hillary honed his skills before climbing Everest - and its stunning environs.

Panorama of Lake Pukaki with Aoraki/Mt. Cook in the center background

One of three swing bridges over Hooker River on the 3-mile hike up toward Aoraki

Receding glaciers on the peaks near Aoraki

The rushing, glacial silt filled Hooker River, Aoraki in the background

The intrepid explorers with iceberged Hooker Lake and Aoraki behind

Crystalline iceberg in Hooker Lake