the next day, we drove from Wanaka to Aorkai / Mt. Cook National Park. one the way, the terrain turned more arid and once again reminded us of central and eastern washington state:


some of the Lord of the Rings was filmed in this area. (scenes from Edoras, where the horse people lived)



we stopped at a scenic overlook for one of our first glimpses of Mt. Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand:



the road to the park followed the edge of Lake Pukaki for about half an hour. the glaciers in the area finely grind up rock to give the lake the cool opaque turquoise color.


we stopped by the town, which was really just a few lodges, a cafe or two, and the ranger station. we picked up a map from the ranger station and went to the camp ground. the camp ground had toilets, but no showers or electric hookup. we couldn't quite see Mt. Cook from the camp ground, but we could see this:



here's finn stomping around next to the van in the parking lot: