Honestly, the hostel bed was pretty nice! Each bunk had its own curtain for privacy. Feeling rested, we had cereal topped with banana, peanut butter, and honey for breakfast. Our morning hike was Mount John trail. It had a little elevation gain at the beginning and stunning blue water views from the top. The walk back was along the water which was cool!

After the hike, we took another dip in the aqua fresh water. It was perfect for rejuvenate the legs – our next 3 days each have some serious hiking involved.

After the lake jump, Brian realized he left his shoes in one of the car parking lots. The idea was to give them some time to air out and not stink up the car. We rushed back but there were no shoes to be found (silly Brian). BUT – we walked into the nearby sports store and asked if anyone had dropped off a pair of shoes. The owners eyebrows raised and a smile formed across his face as he reached for a bag. Could it be?! Yes! The shoes had been saved. Only in New Zealand – Kiwis are nice peeps.

We stopped at the local supermarket to grab a quick lunch. Anna snagged some premo snacks for the next few days…see if you can spot them in our next post. It was about 100km to Mt Cook. With about 20 minutes left in the drive to Mt. Cook, we came upon the south end of Lake Pukaki. The view form the south end, north toward Mt. Cook was one of the best we had seen yet! Or course we stopped for a photo.

We arrived at our 1 of our 2 hotels for the next 2 days, The Hermitage. It only had 1 night available so we had to split the nights. Whereas Lake Tekapo had multiple stores, restaurants, and a plethora of housing, Mt. Cook only had the 2 hotels. We had a nice view while we played cards – Anna snuck out best 3 out of 5 in Gin.

We walked down the street to one of the three dinner options. Nothing to write home about but we’re writing home to you all any way. Already missing the Christchurch food markets! We watched sunset from our room and did some planning for tomorrow! Day 1 of 3 big hikes on deck!