We met Olivier (Fr) and Julia (Austria) at the Muller Hut, somewhere way above the clouds at the closest to heaven. The four of us an a guitar for a little jam session. "Knocking on Heavens' Doors" from Bob Dylan appears to be the most appropriate song in this stunning place. We spend most of the day here, hanging over earth like a day away from reality.
We saw mountain goats called Taha early in the morning as we were the first one to reach the top around 6:30. We were quite lucky because they live high in the mountains and only come down in the late evening to eat then go back early in the morning without being seen.
We saw some Kea as well, high mountains fluffy parrots from the south island.
Hiking in Mount Cook was a very special time. We got an awful weather all the day (one of the most windy day in history!), the sky was a demoralizing and endless darkness. Impossible to hike, we got stuck to the ground down the valley, taking shelter with the other campers from the violent wind and rain. The night we spend there felt like a story from some fantasy book. Unreal. The storming night wiped everything outside off and gather people in. Stuck inside the shelter, we met other people, played, talked and laugh, all refugees of the flood. We settle our mattress and sleeping bags down on the floor under the tables. The atmosphere was the one the animals from all earth would have felt when they were on Noes' Arch.
The storm before the calm.
We knew that the morning will clear, and that would probably be our only shot to hike for the next days. We packed our bag for the day and stand ready to leave in the dark of the night, when the calm was suddenly back. This is our chance, the morning peace is waiting for us.
We climbed the stairs and the rocks for 2 hours as we were going to reach the stars, every step bringing us closer to the top. The track is demanding but the view from the top is the greatest reward of all effort. We stand there in the early morning first ones around to disturb the sun rising over the mountains in front of us. Pure morning, where time stand still, stunned as we were in front of such impressive nature.
