From Dunedin we headed up the coast stopping at the Moeraki boulders which are almost perfectly round and up to 2m in diameter. The boulders in geological terms are calcitic concretions which have been eroded out of the cliff face. In Maori terms they are food baskets which have washed ashore from a wrecked canoe. The weather got bad as we headed back west inland to Mt Cook which is very near the Franz Josef glacier we were at the other week. We were staying in a great hostel at the foot of the mountain with amazing views if it had stopped raining and the cloud cleared. Due to the weather I didn't do anything here but it was nice to enjoy the accommodation. As we were leaving the following morning the cloud start to clear and we were left with some spectacular mountain views across Lake Pukaki and onto the Tasman glacier. Mt Cook, also known as Aoraki is 3754m high and is the highest peak in New Zealand. The views were pretty spectacular and I think it was more impressive than Everest.
We headed back east across the MacKenzie plains which were named after the local sheep rustler, towards Christchurch. I'm staying 3 nights in Christchurch which in November was hit by a magnitude 7.1 earthquake. I was a bit worried that a lot of it may be not open due to earthquake damage but the city seems ok. Just a few cracks and a lot of scaffolding around!
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