By Jane Coulter
We all dealt with the windy nor-west conditions en route to Aoraki Mt Cook on Thursday (ANZAC day). Once settled in, a few members wandered down to the delta of the Tasman River to look for Black Stilts. Crossing the braids was not for the faint hearted, not due to the flow, but the numbing cold of the water.
On Friday morning after a very pretty sunrise, members took off in different directions, some to Kelland Ponds, some to Tasman Lake and a few of us walked up; the Hooker Valley. The murky weather was forecast to lift, so we set off in sleet and snow, crossing icy swing bridges (kudos to Andrea for persevering). The sun made brief appearances as we got deeper into the mountains and some lovely moody photos were taken. There were icebergs in the Hooker Lake, but capturing these in windy/cloudy conditions was not ideal. That evening we enjoyed a sumptuous pot luck dinner – thanks to all the chefs.
On Saturday morning, James and I went Stilt spotting, Andrea did some painting and others explored the valleys. We saw a few pairs of Black Stilt in the river braids amongst hordes of Paradise ducks, a hawk, a tern, and a few squadrons of geese passing overhead. We also spent some time hunting, unsuccessfully, for Jewelled Gecko in the matagauri. James did find a couple of Mountain Stone Weta under rocks and a brown gecko too. Over lunch at camp, we watched on as Dawn worked hard photographing a couple of rifleman flitting in the matagauri and briar roses.
Although exhausted, we decided to walk up to the Red Tarns for sunset. They sit 300m above Mt Cook Village and are accessed via some very steep steps which are reminiscent of “The Stairs of Cirith Ungol” in Lord of the Rings. The views from the top were breathtaking. Some very bad planning on my part (I forgot a spare battery) so only managed to get two shots of the view before having to resort to my phone camera. The walk down was easier than up, but became more challenging as darkness fell and we had to use head torches. Thankfully, when we returned, we were treated to a wonderful risotto that Andrea had made, followed by leftover desserts from the night before.
The sunrises were gorgeous, the walks magnificent and the company as special as ever. Thank you James for a well organised trip and for being my chauffeur as well.
