We had planned to go on a helicopter to see Mt Cook and walk on a glacier, but the wind was unbelievable. Strong gale force winds gusting up to 70mph. So we had to do it the old fashioned way – driving! The roads are very open and the wind made driving a bit like flying into turbulence. We stopped for lunch in a small town called Twizel. It had been built to house the people working on a nearby hydroelectric plant. When the plant was finished, a lot of them liked the place so much, they stayed. We went past two more remote glacial lakes to the town of Cromwell.
This was an old gold rush town also changed by hydro. They had flooded most of the original town, which is now a dive site, and only a few of the original buildings survive. The region is a big fruit growing area. The apples were superb. Now, however, grapes and wineries are the main crop from there almost all the way to Queenstown.
Mt Cook is impressive, not least by virtue of the two volumes of memorial tribute books to people who have died there. The last entry in the book was an American who died there in February.
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