NZ2009 - Mount Cook

Mount Cook is frequently hidden by cloud but the day we were driving to Twizell, which was to be our base for viewing the Southern Alps, skies were blue. We quickly checked into our accomodation and drove on getting spectacular views.
We parked the car, booted up and set off on the Hooker Valley walk. It's very rough underfoot but just gently uphill with a couple of swing bridges involved. The scenery is great but there is one point, soon after the second swing bridge, when you turn a corner and Mt Cook is there in all its magnificence. It is an inspiring view and I have goose bumps writing about it. The best view of the holiday!
We continued to the end of that walk where we saw the Hooker Glacier, looking more green than blue and shedding a few small icebergs into the river.
How lucky we were to get those views as the next day it was raining! In fact it was unusually cold, cloudy and rainy for the last three days of the holiday but it did not prevent us doing a couple of significant walks and refelecting on the truly wonderful time that we had spent in this most beautiful country.