Day four of our trip dawned bright and sunny! We got around rather slowly that morning; it was nearly noon before we left our friends’ house in Twizel. We stopped at their shop in town and bought a number of things, including straw hats for a couple of us who didn’t want to add to the brilliant sunburns we were already sporting from our day at Cave Stream and Castle Hill! Then, we headed up along Lake Pukaki toward Mount Cook. We were delighted that the high cloud allowed us to see the beautiful mountain in the distance.
I always enjoy the mountains along the way, too. They line both sides of the valley.
The lavender farm was in full bloom. This photo doesn’t anywhere near do justice to the vivid color.
Mr. Imagination loved riding with Miss Joy. One of their favorite games was to play with wet wipes. They would scrub their faces and necks for a long time—cheap entertainment!
We pulled off to get some pictures of Mount Cook on our way up Lake Pukaki. Esther and I, in the lead van, decided not to stop, but the other van wanted to. They pulled off at the official viewing place, which was crowded with tourists. We told them we would look for a place to turn around, but couldn’t find anywhere for a couple of kilometers. Then, we found an old pull-off, with no one there and a great view! We called the other van on the radio and told them to join us. Then, while we were waiting, Esther and I got the idea that this would be a good place to take a family photo. We wanted to do that sometime on our trip. We checked out the lighting in several places, and found a spot that worked, so she got out her tripod. 
This was the view from the official pulloff. Gayle snapped it with his phone.
I got individual pictures of the children, too, and grabbed this shot in the process. This is Mr. Sweetie, Miss Joy, Simon, and Elijah.
Esther took this one while we were figuring out lighting and backgrounds.
Everyone wandered around under the big tree for awhile as we got things figured out.
Lots of helpful advice about the perfect location for a photo!
One of the final results! I don’t think this is the one we ended up printing, though.
As we kept driving, the mountain showed up more and more clearly.
The other mountains are gorgeous, too!
When we reached the carpark for the Tasman Glacier walk, we decided to eat lunch first. We found a little meadow where we could spread out our picnic.
The walk to the viewing spot for the glacier is up a steep hill—a moraine. You find out just how physically fit you are—or not!
See the glacier at the head of the lake? It has a thick layer of dirt and rocks on top. Mount Cook is in the distance to the left.
While we were standing there, I heard a man, who looked like he was about 40 years old, tell his child that when he was born, the glacier was just below where we were standing—you could step onto it from the top of the hill. That’s hard to believe!
A close-up of the glacier.
See the Paradise Duck at the edge of the lake?
Looking down the valley. You can see a sliver of Lake Pukaki in the distance.
One of the Blue Lakes—which are actually green!
Another view down the valley.