[Omarama, New Zealand] Another chilly night this time at the foot of Mount Cook and being a basic campsite there were no nice warm showers to wake us up. No problem – we packed up and cruised into the village where the ‘Public Shelter’ has a fully equipped kitchen, dining area and hot showers (hot for small fee). It seems impossible not to find decent camping facilities in this country.

The overcast conditions sent us into the visitor’s centre to check out the exhibits. Very impressive. From the history of the mountain, it’s explorers and climbers to animal and geological exhibits. A true wealth of information, well presented in a perfect location, and best of all, free. One of the interesting factoids was the 14 million tonne collapse of rock near the summit in 1991 that reduced the height of the mountain by a good 10m. We then wandered over to the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre. Another excellent free exhibit (with optional extras at a price). Plenty of Everest and Antarctic memorabilia and information. Hillary opened the centre shortly before his death in 2008 and the life-sized bronze at the entrance is a reminder of what a hero he was to New Zealand.

With the weather clearing (just a little) we headed to the Tasman glacier and another short walk. In the parking lot we noticed a group with photographers, models and lots of outdoor gear. The brand ‘The Red Face’ is new to us, but by the look of the director and photographers it is Asian.

V led us to the ‘Blue Lakes’. A set of small lakes that have turned green (maybe they need some chlorine). We followed the trail along the edge of the first lake to get to the others but it quickly disappeared in thick thorn bushes. Not wanting to give up we bashed our way through eventually heading up the scree slopes to ridge and then back to rejoin the main path the the Tasman glacier. It was an unnecessary mission. We should have guessed when we saw all the other walkers heading directly for the glacier. The Tasman glacier is the largest in New Zealand but is again covered by debris on the lower sections so it looks like a rock slide with a white face. From our vantage point above the glacial lake it looked impressive but we are both itching to get a heli ride up high onto a snowy white glacier. We’re saving that for the Fox glacier on the other side on the Alps in a couple of weeks.

All tramped out for the morning we climbed in the van and headed for Twizel. Our routine at the moment seems to be: leave camp at 10am, spend the day driving, walking etc and then find another camp around 5pm. It’s working well for now but we may need a break at some point.

Before Twizel we went out looking for another LOTR shooting location – the ‘Plains of Rohan’. It must been some distance off the road because we could not find it – I’m sure we were close.

More driving got us in the area of Omarama. V had read about some cool looking clay cliffs close to town so we went looking for them. More gravel roads led us to a farm gate with appropriate signage. The entry fee was NZ$5 (£2.50) payable in town but there was also an ‘honesty box’ (an old ice-cream container) on the gate post with at least NZ$50 in it ! We could not believe it. Imagine that in Africa, or even in the UK. The cold wind and cloudy sky was not great so we didn’t stay long, but the cliffs did look very cool (BTW you can see them at a distance from the main road if you don’t want to pay or ride on dirt roads).

Heading into Omarama we passed a large airfield full of gliders and a couple old style bi-planes. This area is known for gliding and there are lots of tour operators charging a fortune to take tourists up (not today I’m sure with this weather). We checked into the only campsite in town. And a top rated 5 star one at that. Again excellent facilities in a pleasant setting. Not too busy and wonderfully tranquil. This is just too easy (if only the WiFi was free).

[Pictures: Hillary looking out to Mt Cook. One of the Blue/Green Lakes. Clay Cliff. Another great campsite]

– Posted from my iPhone via 3G