Mt Cook and Turquoise Lakes
Trip Start
Jan 06, 2008
1
91
125
Trip End
Dec 20, 2008
Lake Tekapo,
South Island,
New Zealand
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Less cool are the clouds on Mt Cook. Nevermind, the landscape around is once again surreal. The South Island has been completely shaped by huge glaciers several thousands years ago (not that long). The result is very wide flat and lunar valley/plateau with mountains all around. The photos can not give the feeling but the views are almost always 360 degrees wide. Amazing. It is "Lord of the Rings" everywhere.
The Tasman glacier that shaped the valley, next to Mt Cook, also left a tiny lake with icebergs in it. Seeing these massive blocks of ice in a lake, next to the highest peak of the land is quite weird.
Another thing: the lakes. The glaciers left a lot of sediments so the water that replaced them took the most beautiful Turquoise color. What a scenery!!
The South Island is very "Alpine". The peaks are a lot less high than the European Alpes but the surrounding is extra-ordinary and I've never seen something like that before.
New Zealand is surely the most beautiful country. It is unbelievable to see so many different landscapes and vegetation is such a small space.
