At 5AM in the morning, on Mt. Cook, in “Retreat” Hotel, I was still tiredly lying on the bed, after the rushes for a whole day in yesterday, and experiencing many dangerous situations such as getting lost on the way, heavy rains and no gas, etc, and the last situation was my car hit a rabbit scared by my car lights.
A bizarre white light was dazzling my eyes all the time, and after struggling for a long time, I tried to get up for half of my body, and Mt. Cook was silently standing in front of my eyes, and when at a closer distance, I actually saw the snowfalls around the peak, and when I got here last night, it was covered by thick fog. Through the window, I saw almost all the guests in the hotel had ran out of the hotel, taking photos with the snow mountain. I have completed the minimum preparation works such as getting up and getting dressed, etc within just one minute, and took my camera rushing out. I once was very excited for seeing a snow mountain for the first time before, but that was during the hard process of climbing that snow mountain and accompanying the snow mountain every day. This time, lying in a comfortable penthouse room in a luxurious hotel, it was as if appreciating a great painting hanged in my room.
For ordinary short-term tourists, it is usually very difficult to see Mt. Cook, in most of time, which is surrounded by the thick clouds, and it is rare to see its real features. But this time, I was really very lucky, and during this only day, I captured it.
Around Mt. Cook and other snow mountains surrounding it, New Zealanders have established many self-travel companies, providing many options for tourists coming here. Hiking, originated from the Alps area and one of the most fashionable outdoor activities in the world at present, the glacier drifting on the very cold river, viewing the glacier with the lowest altitude in New Zealand in summer, and climbing Mt. Cook…The most exciting activity among them is to have the extreme skiing on Mt. Cook, and after paying NZ$699, Alp Skiing Company will send you onto Mt. Cook by a helicopter, and you need to jump out from the cabin with the height for few meters above the ground, and directly ski downwards, and the helicopter will immediately leave after sending you onto the peak, and leave yourself to face all the obstacles of the clear snow mountain, cliffs and rocks, etc alone, and for that challenging feeling, only yourself can understand.
“Please hold tight, and be careful for the floating ice.” The pilot and the guide on the drifting boat were reminding us loudly. I held the thick rope on the shipboard on one hand, and firmly held my camera on the other hand. Looking back, three American boys and a British couple on the same boat also had had the nervous feelings on their faces. This was my first time drifting on an icy river, and the purpose of this trip was to look for the biggest glacier in summer in New Zealand. Although it had been in summer in the southern hemisphere, the glacier in deep of Mt. Cook was still very cold, and our drifting boat was quickly going along the river that was sometimes broad but sometimes narrow, and there were broken ice pieces often falling into our cabin, and once falling into the river, people would get frozen only for about 1 minute. Suddenly, a huge floating ice appeared in the middle of the river, and our boat almost rode onto it. Due to the continuous temperature rise in the world, the unique low-altitude glaciers in New Zealand are also gradually unfreezing. The British couple told me this had been their third time coming to Mt. Cook, and in the previous two times, they had experienced the extreme skiing and the hiking on the mountain, and this time, they came for looking for the glaciers that are disappearing.
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Information chapter:
Recommended outdoor activities
1. Air Cruising Company on Mt. Cook
Services provided:
- Take an airplane to view the longest glacier in New Zealand
- Hiking on glaciers
- Mt. Cook Climbing
- One-day hiking in the flat areas of the snowy mountains.
Reservation tel: 0800251000
Reservation website: www.airadventures.co.nz
Email:airad@attglobal.net
2. Discovery Tours Company
Services provided:
- One-to-one services, hiking on snow mountains
- Fishing on snow mountains
Reservation tel: (0064-27) 2120727
Reservation website: www.discoverytours.co.nz
Email:discovery-tours@xtra.co.nz
3. Mountain Cook Ski Plaines Company
Services provided:
- View Glaciers in the sky, 40 minutes, NZ$265/person,
- Extreme skiing in the sky, sent to the peak, with the extreme excitements, NZ$699/person
Recommended hotels
Hermitage Hotel (Strongly recommended)
Located in the valley at the end of No.80 Road, and if you sat on the 10th Floor, the top floor of the hotel, it is guaranteed that you can experience the feelings of enjoying Mt. Cook 1000m far while lying on the bed.
Reservation Tel: (0064-3) 4351809
“Scottish Highlands” hidden in thick fogs, Dunedin
Several years ago, I saw a movie named “Brave Heart” starring by Mel Gibson, and I have deeply felt Scotland is a spiritual country, and the people in this country are filled with a fortitudinous spiritual force, and the highlander seems a good name by them for themselves. With the thick fogs in Scottish Highlands, the Scotland bagpipes that seem never have its musical ends, and the sounds of nature by Enya that always make people dream, until now, I still have no opportunity to enter into that highland, but in Dunedin, Southern Island, New Zealand, I suddenly encountered them.
Dunedin is a place with the most Scottish sentiments in New Zealand, many residents are of Scottish descent, and the architectural style has strong highland influence. When I arrived, I went to the famous Piping Hat Haggis bar to see Haggis Ceremonies; it is a kind of Scottish ceremony with a long history, it will be held for one at 6:30PM on every Tuesday from Oct till March.
When we opened the door, the melodious sounds of Scottish bagpipes floated past the top of our heads, and the show started from the second floor. Bagpipes, kilts and the highland warriors with swords, and Scottish whisky were served. A man called himself Grant, with the magnificent Scottish kilt, stood in the centre of the bar, and several highland warriors with long hair and holding various types of weapons were surrounding him, and he was waving his long sword and reading a poem. I did not know why I could not understand a single, then I asked a friend from Australia, and he shook his head and said he could not understand what they said either. Was it not English? In the end, I finally realized that they were using an ancient language in Scottish Highlands, and nowadays, it has almost disappeared even in Scotland.
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