Twizel Continued...

We ended up spending a whole week in Twizel....a fact that astonishes all other Kiwi's we meet, but then they haven't received the hospitality of Kylie Wakelin! We also got to meet back up with Mike Powell (Chris's ex-Antarctica mate we stayed with in Wanaka) on a day trip to Wanaka. After a pleasant walk around the lake with Mike, Chris & I headed off with Kylie & Bjorn-Andreas (her Norwegian boyfriend) for a spot of ‘Bouldering’. This involved us trying to scramble around a large boulder; I’d initially thought this sounded rather lame until I witnessed what gravity defying feats Kylie & B-A could accomplish traversing around an overhanging edge of the boulder. Kitted out in proper climbing shoes with crash mats underneath us, Chris and I had a turn. Turns out I don’t actually own the muscles to do this activity and what few I did were rather weak & feeble, not to mention screaming in pain the following day! Chris faired slightly better, but it wasn’t exactly Cliffhanger!

The following day we decided to give our arms a rest and instead go for a hike in Mt Cook National Park up to Muiller Hut, a rather fancy new DOC hut sitting on top of a ridge with 360 views of Glaciers. We had originally planned to go up there and spend the night, but it was going to cost $30 each and we had an invite to a free BBQ…so not a difficult choice! Instead we did the 3hr climb (steep steps all the way) and got up there to enjoy an hour or more in the sunshine admiring the views! We finished our time in Twizel with Chris strapping the tool belt back on and finishing the rest of Kylie’s long overdue DIY projects! It was great to be able to feel we were earning our keep (I did a great job as a ‘Hammer Hand’), although money was offered we were more than happy to except a lunch out the following day as way of payment – its not often that Chris & I dine at fancy cafes! We said our farewells after aforementioned lunch as it was time to cruise up to Christchurch (although the offer of staying to look after Kylie’s house while she’s away in Norway for the Winter was quite tempting, trades people are very thin on the grounds around these parts & the last Physio left about 3 months ago so even I could be gainfully employed!!!!).

That innocent looking boulder!!!

Well worth the climb to get such a magnificent view of Mt Cook.

Muiller Hut....looks like an alpine restaurant, but is BYO for everything!

It's a bad hair day when you let 'G' loose with a pair of clippers!

Kylie & Chris....you can tell she's a climber, the way he's been ploughing through those pies recently, she's doing well!