(By Ann)

Today we hiked the Hooker Valley Trail at Mt. Cook. Wow!

But before we leave Twizel (The Fizzel) we need to share the one highlight of Twizel. The Salmon pizza at Shawty’s was absolutely the best pizza ever! Okay, enough on Twizel.  Don’t go there.

Today we got up close and personal with Mt. Cook. What a fabulous hike! Mt Cook is the tallest mountain in New Zealand. The star of the Southern Alps! We felt like we were in Switzerland on a warm day. It was such a treat!

Approaching the trail head in the morning.

I saw a sign outside a restaurant in Nelson that said, “Nothing we can write in chalk on this board can do justice to our food.” Well, nothing I can say can accurately describe our hike. Other than it took longer than we thought it would, but then I guess that gets back to this blog title…lots and lots of pictures were taken and that takes time! Thank God for digital cameras. There is no way we could have carried enough film!

As I hiked this glorious trail I tried to come up with the perfect adjective…glorific! Fantabulous! None of them do it justice so the pictures will have to do the trick!

Mt Cook in the background.

The valley on the way in.

We took so many shots it was hard to decide what to include. In this case, note the grey water-this time of the year the glacier is melting and sending heavy silt down stream.

More of the grey river, but a beauteous day!

One of the huts on the mountain.

The Mountaineer...

...and Bob.

We are now in Wanaka (rhymes with Hanukkah). It is lovely. We drove through a gorgeous mountain pass to get here. Wanaka has an airplane museum, Puzzleworld and aspens. I think we are going to like it here!