Never in a million years would I acquaint my incredibly lethargic and tragically lazy self with a 10(???)km trek through the mountains. Except of course if the 10kms were an amalgamation of snow peaked mountains, rolling hills, foggy skies and fields of lupins popping up every few meters. The glacial lake you ask? Well that was the cherry on top of this already quite delicious cake not to mention the perfect sight for sore feet. As apt as "the land of the long white cloud is" for New Zealand, I believe  "the land of the lakes", is an observation hard to miss given that the lakes range from turquoise to mirror to white and icy cold with floating glacier chunks. 

As mentioned earlier, we stayed in a beautiful cottage in Twizel and although I find myself happily content (infact overjoyed) with this, if you come across accommodation within the Mount Cook vicinity itself, grab it! I assure you waking up to those views is definitely worth it. For us, the 45 minute drive from Twizel to Mount Cook was a satisfying alternative, thanks to the endless sea of farms and mountains and little furry friends (some not so little) that whizzed past the car window as we drove on.

The above mentioned hike is the Hooker Valley Glacier hike in the Mt Cook National Park and was one of the most rewarding activities I undertook in New Zealand. All the good stuff aside though, just as any delicious cake comes packed with frustratingly too many calories (you'd think I would have found fat free black-forest by now) the hooker valley track also had its hurdles. Namely, my crazy fear of heights that seemed to have reached its pinnacle when I had to cross the swing bridge. All's well in the end though as I had somewhat curbed my fears by the 6th time round. Plus, its quite satisfying when one of your cheesy 'face your fears' resolutions fresh from the new years actually come true.