Mueller Hut

Mount Cook was not on our route, but we thought we could go there to put on our boots to go for a walk in the National Park.

The track to Mueller Hut was steep and has 1,824 steps, I counted almost every single one of them! It took me a long time, almost three hours, I almost gave up counting but was determined to see how many there were. Some people had mentioned there were 3,000 but I was glad they were wrong!

At the top of the steps we arrived at Sealy Tarns. Because it was so hot I enjoyed a long swim, it was really hard to get out, but we needed to keep making our way to the hut so I had to get out. We scrambled up and over rocks to get to Mueller Hut. As the hut was full we slept out under the stars, with no tent, just on our thermarests. I enjoyed seeing all the stars and seeing Mt Cook in the distance. We were entertained by the keas, they tried to steal our shoes and socks and they even turned on Dad's gas cooker! The smell of the gas woke Dad up so he managed to save it.

In the morning we climbed Mt Olivier 1938m, this was Sir Ed's first mountain he climbed! The views up on top looked down Lake Pukaki, across to Hooker Valley and up to Mt Cook and Mt Sefton.

We then headed back down to Mt Cook Village, enjoyed a long lunch and long swim at Sealy Tarns once again. We now had to go back down the 1,824 steps! On the way down my legs wobbled every time I stepped down. This was hilarious as I felt I had no control over it. Dad calls it the sewing machine leg!

We were so exhausted at the campsite but we had a message that our friend Tara was in the village so we raced on our bikes to see her. She had just finished a 6 week walk of the Southern Alps and was carrying on down to Fiordland.

The following day we were lucky enough to fly in a ski plane and land on the Tasman Glacier! It was exhilarating! We could see so many mountains and glaciers and even spotted some of the alpine huts that the climbers use.

After our flight we were back on the bikes heading to the top of Lake Pukaki - 63kms.

One day I would love to return to Mt Cook and explore more of the area.