It’s Day 4 starts after an early breakfast at the Crowne Plaza Christchurch, the group boards the bus for a long day of traveling.  We are traveling to Mt. Cook in the high country and it will take about 4-5 hours with some stops along the way.  It is a beautiful day, clear and cold as we depart Christchurch but by early afternoon it will change to rain.  The scenery is spectacular and majestic, the mountains are humbling, and even in the rain it is still beautiful.  After a few hours on the bus we reach Lake Tekapo and stop to view the tiny Church of the Good Shepherd—which was built from locally gathered stone and oak in tribute to the hard working early pioneers of the land.  It is a small church and will seat only about 50 to 75 people, but when you walk in you can feel the Holy Spirit as you sit and pray.  The church is on a small incline that overlooks Lake Tekapo and is beautiful in its simplicity and the location on the lake with all the trees surrounding the church and the lake, makes you feel like you are as close to God as you can get!  You feel humble to just be in his presence.  After we left the church, we stopped at a local restaurant on the lake, had lunch and of course, did some shopping before boarding the bus for our final destination---Mt. Cook and our hotel for the night.

Mt. Cook National Park is a World Heritage listed park and is home to the Hermitage Hotel—the most famous hotel in New Zealand, specifically for its location and the fantastic views of Mt. Cook.  The Hermitage Hotel is our home for the night and it houses the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Center.  The Alpine Center is a special center which is dedicated to one of New Zealand’s most famous mountaineering pioneer---Sir Edmund Hillary who with his party climbed the south ridge of the glacier and later went on to become the first climber to reach the summit of Mt. Everest!  Mt. Cook is an awesome sight—assuming there’s no cloud in the way!  This is definitely a Photo op, so out come the cameras for some memorable photos.  In early December of 1991, a substantial piece of Mt. Cook’s east face (about 14 million cubic meters) fell away in a massive landslide.  Debris spewed out over the surrounding glaciers for 7.3 kilometers, carving a path down the Grand Plateau and Hochstetter Icefall and reaching as far as the Tasman Glacier!

 Our group was suppose to take a boat with experienced guide out to the face of the glacier, have an opportunity to get spectacular views of the surrounding mountains and take some great photos, but unfortunately the bottom fell out and the rain started in earnest, so we decided to forego this excursion.  Later that evening we had drinks and dinner at the award winning Panorama Restaurant and enjoyed the great view of Aoraki Mt. Cook.  It had been a long day and as it drew to a close, we headed for our rooms to rest up for Day 5 of our New Zealand adventure!  

Don’t forget to follow along with me on this special journey.  There are not enough adjectives to truly describe how special New Zealand is, so I hope you are enjoying your virtual trip.  Call me at 901-754-9300 when you are ready to visit New Zealand, I’ll be waiting for your call!