We awoke to a very miserable day and the prospect of not seeing Mount Cook at all, we were all grumpy anyway as Swansea Real Estate called at 4am again. After a difficult start we were away before 10 and headed up to Lake Pukeki for the Mount Cook viewpoint. When we arrived you could see nothing but clouds so David popped into the information centre for a weather forecast and was told things were clear at Mount Cook Village.

The drive to Mount Cook village was along the shores of the lake which was a stunning blue due to the glacial melt. Every so often on the drive we would catch glimpses of the mountains and especially Mount Cook. We drove to the Alpine Centre/ Hermitage and had a cup of coffee overlooking the mountain. Spectacular ! Somehow this took us until just before 12 so we headed down the road and back to the Mount Cook lookout where we had a picnic lunch. We had thought the weather was going to be very overcast and wet but in fact we now had a stunning view of Mount Cook over the lake and it was fine and warm. David did not sit down but rather walked around keeping the gulls at a 10 feet radius so the girls could eat theirs. When they had finished David took them to play on the rocks and they ended up making a chocolate mix aka mud pie. The both delighted in this !

After this we headed to Lake Tekapeko to see the Church of the Good Sheppard which in its own right is a pretty unremarkable church but its location is stunning. We also walked to the border collie statue during which time the girls made a significant selection of stones. The view from both of these places was amazing.

On to Christchurch which makes it sound easy but in fact took some time and a lot of singing as the girls were fairly bored of the journey and frankly so was I.

Quotes of the Day

Elizabeth
Someone help me, I causing chaos here - she was in fact being very sweet and lovely.
C: How many cars will pass mummy ?
E: All of them

Alex
Are we nearly there yet ?

I want to stroke the fish (there was a large plastic fish in fairness)

We are going to Australia soon, it's a big place so we will have lots of room to run around.