Mueller Hut

On Friday 15th of April I departed with a group of six people from my flat complex and embarked on a journey to Mueller Hut in the Mount Cook Nationalpark. Along came Rosie from the UK, Ian and Seth both from the US, Hannah from Norway and Sofia from Hungary, all in all a pretty international group of fantastic people! 

Our first stop was a lookout point at Lake Pukaki along the road to Mt Cook. 

Clear blue sky, not a single cloud in the sky and tepid temperatures around 20 degrees, what a perfect day for a journey to the heart of the South Island!

180 degree view of Lake Pukaki

Our second, not entirely voluntary stop was just a few minutes later when we had to stop to give way to some sheep. So New Zealand...

The road to Mount Cook

Pleasant company during our first break at a pick-nick-table halfway up the mountain: a Kea bird

The New Zealand Kea is beautiful to watch, but can sometimes be quite annoying; especially when it tries to destroy your lunchbox or your backpack with its sharp bill.

Ian and his faithful walking stick

Time´s flying by in good company and soon it was evening and the sunset was coming closer and closer, creating stunning colors in the sky!

His majesty Mount Cook in the last rays of the setting sun, what a view! 

We reached the hut right on time to watch the sun finally setting down and vanishing behind the mountains. 

We had some pasta and sandwiches in the hut and went to bed quite early as it had been a pretty exhausting day and we all had in mind to get up early the next day and watch the sunrise.

6:45 am    The first light of the rising sun approaches

The surrounding mountains in the first morning light.

Mueller Hut, where we stayed the night.

The hike down the mountain back to the car-park was way easier than the way up and we made it back in a little less than three hours. We arrived in Dunedin at around 6 pm, had a shower and some dinner and got ready for the night: a beach party/cave rave at Long Beach. The party was great and we slept on the beach afterwards. This is how we woke up the next morning: 

Seth, Sofia, Rosie and me

All in all it was a great weekend, probably one of the best I´ve had so far here in New Zealand!

Mount Cargill

Here´s a short blog-post with a few impressions from Mt Cargill, a fantastic lookout point 10 minutes out of Dunedin. From the top of Mt Cargill one has an absolutely stunning view onto the city of Dunedin, the Otago Harbour and the Otago Peninsula. 

Dunedin and the Otago Harbour

The boarder of the city where the peninsula splits from the mainland

Transmitter mast on top of Mt Cargill

A huge container-ship is making its way out of the Otago Harbour towards the open sea 

What a nice place to sit down after a long day at Uni and just relax and soak in the fantastic view. 

View onto the northern shore with Aramoana and Long Beach

180 degree view from the summit 

Bike-Tour Otago Peninsula

Sunday 10. April was a beautiful late-summer day, cloudless day with tepid temperatures around 23 degrees Celsius, so I decided to do a little bike-tour to the Otago Peninsula. 

Getting ready for the trip.

I followed the main road along the shore of the peninsula for about 25 km. 

Selfie on the road along the shore.

In Portobello I decided to leave the main road and climb up the hills in order to get to the other side of the peninsula. 

The road leading up the hills is quite narrow but really beautiful for biking and hardly any cars find their way up this hidden gem.

View onto the eastern coastline of the peninsula from a lookout point halfway up the hill.

After climbing up to the top of the hill, the road is winding down its way to the eastern shore. This picture is the way down to Sandfly-Bay, most certainly one of the most stunning places of the Otago Peninsula. 

Sandfly Bay

I have already explored Sandfly Bay and its native residents, the New Zealand sea lions, in two trips earlier this year, so I only stopped there for a minute, took a picture and then left Sandfly Bay behind me and got on my way back to Dunedin. 

Pretty nice spot for a short break. From left to right: mainland, Otago Harbor, Otago Peninsula

The road back to Dunedin led me over the top of the hills with some really nice views.

After about three hours of cycling I reached Small´s Beach and decided to take a short break, sit down for a minute, eat some snacks and just enjoy the beautiful view. 

Small´s Beach

The road back to Dunedin. First Tomahawk Beach, then St. Kilda Beach, St. Clair and finally the city of Dunedin itself on the little hill in the background.