YHA Mount Cook

A lovely wood fireplace awaits us at the Hermitage to help thaw us out after our long walk. The souvenir shop was very enticing but luckily for me, it was closing time (5 pm) when we reached its doors.

Time then to check in at our YHA accommodation and man, it was a room with a view!

Kitchen was delightfully clean to cook in and we had pasta for dinner.

Have to really recommend YHA Mount Cook here (despite its higher-than-usual tariffs). It's a little far from the walking tracks but the distance is manageable, especically since we have a car. The place is really charismatic, built entirely like a giant wooden cabin with big windows overlooking either the snow-capped mountains (which we got) or dramatic black cliffs (on the other side).

The rooms are clean, with a mirror, desk and chair. Sadly, the heater is again timer-based and have to switched on every 30 minutes. And yes, it's again positioned at eye-level which makes it difficult to effectively heat the room. The toilets were nearby and pretty decent although one has to wait a while before the hot water spews out from the shower head.