Glaciers, Terns, Hail and Gales at Aoraki

Friday 14 November

With wild weather on the cards yet again, morning was the time to go exploring! I was up and climbing up the track to Kea Point in my PJs by 7.15am while Louis slept. It was chilly and bracing but glorious - the sunlight gradually bringing the colours of the stunning landscape to life as it climbed higher over the peaks.

Blue skies overhead, the glacier lake looked amazing, Aoraki kept peeking out behind a sausage of cloud and there was the odd thunder of an avalanche over on Mt Sefton… still no kea though!

Back at Banjo, Louis was awake so we got up & properly dressed to visit the Tasman Glacier Lake over in the next valley. It wasn’t quite 10am but the carpark was chocca already so we joined the steady stream of tourists climbing the path to the Tasman Glacier viewpoint.

The glacier has receded so far it’s hard to see it, but the lake was pretty cool - with just a few glacial ice bergs floating up at the top end. The glacier lake is around 700m above sea-level and is overlooked by the two highest peaks in the Southern Alps - Aoraki & Mt Tasman. The Tasman Glacier begins at over 3km above sea level and is pretty massive. Looking around at the rocks, scree and waterfalls of the surrounding area, there were epic sights in every direction. I enjoyed my Barbie moment, posing in vibrant pink against the glorious colours of nature!

We then took the less travelled track to the jetty where the glacier tour boats leave - Louis checked the temperature of the lake, definitely single digits, and not tempting to swim in! Doubled back to the river outlet and scrambled about on the rocks for a bit to get a good close up look at the flowing waters. We could tell that the forecast winds & wild weather were on their way in by the amount of snow being blown off the top of Aoraki like icing sugar off a cake!

As we headed back to camp, we spotted a wee track before the bridge and set off on a 4WD trip down to the banks of the Hooker River as it raced to join the Tasman River and fill up Lake Pukaki. After the hordes of tourists at the Tasman Glacier Lake & outlet stops, the empty peace & tranquility of this area was gorgeous. Underfoot there was either slippery schist piles, or the softest, bounciest lichen & moss - quite fascinating plant formations.

It was a glorious spot and we realised we were being dive bombed and swooped by a host of elegant birds who turned out to be the endangered black fronted tern or tarapirohe. Watching them flit and glide was enchanting - so lucky to see so many of them! Trying to capture them, even with my long Canon lens was all about trial and error - they rarely paused long enough to get decent focus!

Beat the rain back to Banjo, but it began as we ate lunch (bacon salad for me, Scottish bap with bacon for Louis) and continued for then next 12 hours, temperatures plummeting and hail pummelling us at one point! The wind came in tempestuous gusts and gave us a good shaking - sorry for all those in tents! By 2am the skies were stunningly clear and the stars were phenomenal… with negative temperatures until dawn. ❄️