Nurses Hiking in the Mount Cook National Park

I arrived in Mount Cook Village in the early afternoon of the 16th April having again met Meeake, a young Danish nurse, whom I met on one of the days of the Kepler Walk, two weeks previously. We were quickly joined by an Italian nurse, living in Zurich, as well as a Japanese girl from Osaka, and, despite the persistant rain, went walking on 3 of the local 2-3 hour long hikes over the next two days. The local office of the Department of Conservation (DOC) advised the weather would be very wet until our third day when we decided to go for one of the toughest hikes in the area, the Mueller Hut hike. We had been warned, and no one exaggerated, it was harder than the Everest Base Camp trek. The terrain was tough, particularly the last 100 metres of the 1100 metre climb, climbing a steep scree face (3 steps forward and 2 back) however the panorama on reaching the summit was worthwhile and having lunch in the Mueller Hut sitting outside on the verandah with views of the Mueller glacier and the added spectacle of snow avalanches roaring down the mountain side opposite onto the glacier was a dramatic site indeed.
This 'tramp' was fittingly ended in the local bar where I was able to sample some Speights beer one of the south island local brews, my only reservation being the temperature - too cold, but nevertheless an entertaining evening. The next morning I journeyed by bus to Wanaka, for one night, before a journey to Greymouth, on the west coast of south island.
Photo's are yet again in reverse order...
Photo 1. Sampling the local brew with the intrepid crew, including Dow, the very kind Canadian who waited patiently for 2 hours for us to finish the tramp, and then drove 3 very tired girls to the local bar.
Photo 2. The Mueller Hut at 1400 metres. This was the 4th hut built here in the past 60 years, others were swept away in avalanches. All the components for this were helicoptered to the summit, 150m higher, and brought down by sled.
Photo 3. 2 of 3 nurses and Japanese friend on the swing bridge on the way up to Red Tarns on Day 2 of the Mount Cook Village stay.
Photo 4. The Mueller Glacier viewed from the hut.
Photo 5. Taking a rest break on the long climb with a view of Mount Cook in the background. Apparently Edmund Hillary gained much of his climbing experience on this peak before climbing Everest.
Photo 6. Mount Wakefield viewed from Mount Cook village.
Photo 7. Mount Cook with the Hooker Glacier and lake (with icebergs) in the foreground, taken as we climbed the Mueller Hut tramp.