The snowy weather in Aoraki/Mt Cook did nothing to stop the year 11 geography classes having a blast. Ms Summerfield, Mr O’Farrell, Mr Dixon, and Mr Parsons even managed to fill us with some information.

On our way up, we stopped multiple times, not only to fix the broken door on the bus, but also to learn some interesting information from Mr Dixon about the land around us. This was mainly about the surface features we passed, and the sustainable use of the environment, which would help us with some of our internals. When we stopped at the high country salmon farm, we got to feed the zooming salmon, and enjoy the unnatural blue colour of the water. Once we reached Unwin lodge to have dinner, the battle for microwave space had begun, resulting in many half cooked meals, and flaming garlic bread.

The next morning, even though our glacier boat ride was cancelled due to bad weather, we explored the DOC centre at the Mt Cook village, walked up to the Tasman glacier viewpoint, and enjoyed some educational videos at the Hermitage. Because of the bad weather in the area, we had a lot of downtime to hang out. Some of us chose to gamble our life savings away in poker, while others tried to capture the lightning on video, and some hid in corners, trying not to think about the glacier rides we had missed. We ended our night on a high though, with a lightning and fruit burst filled quiz that Ms Summerfield had kindly prepared for us.

On our last day there, most people were unhappy to wake up so early, to pack up our gear and prepare for the day ahead. We got to the Hooker Valley trail just before 9, and fought our way through snow flurries to catch small glimpses of the glaciers and mountains around us. Some braved the cold in shorts and dressing gowns. A small group even made it to the lake at the top, only to be attacked by the vicious wind. At around 12, we cruised our way back to Dunedin, stopping for a quick lunch in Twizel.