Out of the Mists

I recently made a trip from Wanaka to Christchurch to celebrate Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar (I love the irony of celebrating Yom Kippur in Christchurch). The five hour drive to Christchurch, the South Island's largest city, winds through some pretty amazing countryside. Among the many sights were the Lindis Pass, Lake Tekapo, Lake Pukaki and, best of all, Mount Cook / Aoraki, the tallest peak in New Zealand. It's Spring here and the two lakes are filled with glacial runoff that gives the water an iridescent blue quality. With sunlight breaking through the clouds of an approaching storm only intermittently, the views looking north towards Mount Cook / Aoraki from Highway 8 near the towns of Twizel and Lake Tekapo were particularly dramatic.

By way of explanation, as part of a larger effort to respect and include Maori culture, history and language as a part of modern New Zealand, many places go by both their English and their Maori names, hence the reference to "Mount Cook / Aoraki". It's a credit to the fruits of this effort that in NZ, dual names like this are a simple matter of course.

It's difficult to put the scale of Mount Cook / Aoraki into perspective, but it really is massive. I was fortunate to see its summit above the clouds for a brief spell on Sunday. Like so many of the world's natural wonders, seeing it in person is always more inspiring than in pictures. I do hope, however, that these photos convey a sense of the place.