On the hike down from the Mueller Hut, the clouds  cleared down the valley-

But I got tired of hiking and decided to take a hang glider down and shot a selfie-

ok maybe it wasn't a selfie....

Ok, finally have good internet service again. As I mentioned, half of Germany is here (the other waiting to come for their 3 month vacation)- and they all hike.  One German I ran into said if you yelled out 'Wie geht's!' on a mountain or a city street here, you would get at least 6 'sehr guts!' back.

The drive into Mt Cook village is quite pretty-

Why hike?

The day started with a layer of clouds on the 2000' stair master (reminded me of 'the Chief' in Squamish, BC- Craze will know...)

And then the clouds cleared and you got-

Notice the sneakers...

A couple more-

For those who like snow on their mountains, there is Mt Cook- but right now my internet connection is just too slow and I cannot load any pictures.

So, I decided to do the Mueller Hut hike today at Mt Cook park  which was about 3400 ft of vertical, which I figured would not be too bad after the 4000+ previous hikes. No walk in the park but ok (well, actually it was a walk in an national park) .

 However, it had a new definition of steep.  The first part was nothing but steps- 600 vertical meters or like a 2000 ft stairmaster.  I should have just stayed in the hotel gym and gotten a video of Mt. Cook while using the stairmaster- that way I could have quit after 100 or steps and then just watched the video in some comfort.  But after the stairs, it actually got worse- a little steeper but no stairs to help you.  Because of my blisters, I hiked in sneakers (surprising how many people do that), but it was a Hobsons choice as my heels and toes took a beating, tho it helped with the blisters.

Eventually made it to the top where you do get this fantastic view of Mt. Cook and the surrounding Southern Alps.  Cook has to be one of the worlds most beautiful mountains (I can hear Andrea yelling Matterhorn!, but there are other beautiful mountains).  Of course, there were Germans at the top.  There always are.  In fact, a whole section of Germany seems to be on vacation here, mostly young people.  Naturally when I ask, they are here for months on their standard Euro holiday, though many are doing this .woofing. thing (working for for room and board for a few weeks at different places).  In something of a return to the 60s many drive around in these old VW buses and others hitchhike.  Surprising how many hitchhikers.

Will write more with some pictures when I get a better connection

Ok, been a little busy.  Drove from Te Anau to Mt. Cook and was glad for the day off from hiking.  Asked the hotel guy how far and he told me 7-8 hours.  Google said 5.  Well, with tastings at 5 wineries and lunch along the way, it took about 7.  My money is on Google.

Someone asked for pictures of sheep (not hard to find here where there are 40 million of them)

A lot of pretty rivers-

Visited 5 wineries, one where I ended up tasting with the owner in his living room (a little odd but I try and roll with the punches).  He drove up in a muddy tractor and I said ;A working man; and he responded ;Appearances can be deceiving; so I liked him right away.  Not enough to buy something but still....

And I could not resist another trip to Mt Difficulty which Sam, Craze and I visited 5 years ago.  Then there was no one else there but us.  This time it was mobbed.  Another place we put on the map, though it is possible that they were busy because served lunch and it was lunch time...

Another winery had a truly stunning and buccoli setting-

It was in the middle of an industrial area in town.

After hiking Ben Loman, I departed for Te Anau, a small resort city about 200 km southwest of Q.   Like Queenstown, Te Anau sits on a lake and is surrounded by mountains- a beautifut setting- though the weather there is far rainier than Q (it sits on the edge of a temperate rain forest).

So, the next day- not really recovered from the Ben Loman death march- I hiked to the top of Mt. Luxmore, which is part of the well known Keplar Track, one of NZ's 'Great Walks'.  To do it in a day, you take a boat across the lake, which takes about 10 minutes and costs... well too much (I guess having a monopoly helps).  On the boat ride, I struck up a conversation with a young Swiss couple who hailed from the Berner Oberland in Switz.  I ask them where they have been and how long in NZ.  The fellow said they had just come from Tasmania where they had spent 2 weeks after having been in W. Austrailia for about 8 weeks.  He then tells me they will be in NZ for 7 weeks....I just sort of look at him and then he says "Yeah, a bit of a long holiday...'  He then asks me how long I will be in NZ and I tell him '2 weeks'.  I think that pretty much sums up the difference between the Euro and American vacations.

Anyway, I was again blessed with excellent weather- not like Q; there are always some clouds in Te Anau- but really good. The hike starts with 1.5 hours through a Middle Earth looking forest-

 You then emerge into the tussock grass and you have this very pretty and thoroughly enjoyable- i.e. relatively flat- hike with wide open views of the huge lake below and the surrounding mountains.

You then get to the base of the peak (2.5 hours) and then climb to the summit (1.5 hours) on a trail with truly stunning vistas of this wilderness lake surrounded by sheer mountains (looks like a fjiord).  

Really a spectacular scene and hike.  The mountains have to be some of the most rugged, sheer and wild looking that I have ever seen.  The Keplar rivals some of the best hikes I have ever done, even though, with blisters and all, I could barely walk when I stumbled back some 7 hours later to the overpriced boat. 

While these pictures do not do it justice, they don't call it the world's most beautiful country for nothing. 

Hiked the Ben Loman peak out of Queenstown today.  Literally, about 5 minutes from the trail head, I passed 2 young men and 1 woman, all appearing in their early 20s.  They had stopped so the woman could get a drink of water and as I passed by the woman said to the guys "I hate this f------- hike!", a sentiment I often mutter to myself on my hikes, though I usually wait until I am at least an hour or so into it...

It turned out to be a day of some.. errors and miscalculations.  I had selected the Ben Loman hike, as I had thought it would be a fairly moderate hike, somehow thinking that it would be around 2500' of vertical- a good warm up hike..  However, as I was hiking, I found it to be quite a difficult and long trail.  As I hiking, I was- thinking 'man, I must still be feeling the effects of jet lag (I was), out of shape or age or something, but this just seems a lot tougher than I thought'.  Of course, when I got to the top with a lot, I glanced at the verticals and determined that 'no Ken, this is not 2500', but actually about 4900' of vertical'- not exactly the moderate day I had planned (for perspective, it was a little more vertical than climbing Mt. Washington).  Not sure how I misplaced 2400' of vertical- where is Craze when I need him?  I wish I could say it was the first time I had miscalculated a hike....

But it was an absolutely beautiful day, with nary a cloud in the sky.  Picture perfect you might say.  That is, it would have been 'picture perfect' if I had remembered to recharge my camera.  I had just enough battery for....3 pictures (all lower down).   Of course, last night I had charged my laptop, phone and tablet, which were all sitting fully charged in my rental car at the bottom.

The lack of photos of what was a truly stunning scene of the lake, Q and the Remarkables would have made me weep, if I weren't already doing that from the blisters on my feet.  That, of course, occurred when I left my band aids in the car next to the fully charged devices.  (Not sure why I got blisters- the boots were fully broken in).

When exactly am I going to become smart?  It seems to be getting late in the day.

The lack of photos was a real shame as it was a spectacular day, both weather and scenery wise.  There were a number of people on the trail of all ages.  What I found most interesting is how many people hike alone, both male and female.  While there are plenty of pairs hiking, I would guess that roughly 30% of the people were alone.  Interesting.  But most interesting of all was passing the 3 young people I mentioned at the outset as I was coming down and they were nearing the peak- I never would have thunk that...

The photos-

I finally arrived in Queenstown in Southern New Zealand today after only 24+ hours of flying, etc.  Not sure why I dreaded the 14+ hour flight from Houston to Auckland.  Dinner, a movie, a little snoozing and presto! I looked my watch and almost 5 hours of the flight had gone by.  Sure, the last 9 or so hours seemed to drag a little...

Speaking of which, why is it whenever I have a somewhat long haul flight I seem to get stuck next to some overly large person?  It seems the longer the flight, the heavier the person sitting next to me (some sort of fixed ratio).  I think in my seat preferences the airlines have me down for 'window plus super sized person on longer flights.'  In this case, the hefty woman next to me seemed to spill into my seat and sort of pin me to the window much of the flight, especially as we rolled (she literally) with the turbulence..  I was glad I was not in an exit row as the pressure might have caused a door malfunction and I would have ended up in the South Pacific without my swimming trunks.  I don't expect to see this woman on the hiking trail.  

Upon arrival in Q, it being lunch time, I immediately headed right for.... Ferngbergers (which Sam and Craze know as the best hamburger place in NZ and maybe the world).

 It was like I had never left- people were yelling 'Hey Ken!  Welcome back Man!'  With the expected backslapping all around, etc.  Craze and Sam were missed, but I told the folks that- kind of like Everest and 'Into Thin Air' that they 'just didn't make it' (bit of an inside climbing joke).  In any case, we certainly put the place on the map 5 years ago, as it was mobbed (and is still very good).  I think once some Japanese tour agency put Q on the recommended list... well the Japanese don't seem to do anything alone or in small groups.  They were all over the place.  Still, as this sign in the bathroom indicated, the place does seem to attract something of a quirky crowd-

Finally, I had almost forgotten how beautiful and indeed unique are the Remarkables (mountains) and the Q setting, even right outside the airport.