A few days at the foot of Mount Cook

We get to one of the last stages of our trip in New Zealand, the region around Mount Cook and the Pukaki lake. Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand at 12,277 ft altitude. Actually most of the mountains above 10,000 ft in New Zealand are in the Mount Cook national park. We didn’t try to climb the Mount Cook, because it’s only for serious mountaineers. But we will do a few hikes while we are in the region.

As we leave our campsite the road is very pretty.

We first drive over the Lindis pass, and the landscape here is beautiful.

We then continue towards Mount Cook, and we keep on driving past many many fields with cows or sheep.

To arrive to the village of Mount Cook, we first have to drive along the Pukaki lake. This lake is famous for its turquoise blue color. We stop at a lookout, filled with Chinese tourists hoping off the bus. And we understand why. From here we can see the Mount Cook from afar. We are lucky, the sky is clear and blue, which is apparently not always the case…

We get back on the road, and we are getting very close. We take picture after picture of the Mount Cook, afraid the weather might change and we can’t see the summit later.

When we get to the village, we stop by the information center to ask about the conditions of the trails we want to do. And once again, the longest and most difficult trail we wanted to do is closed because of the snow. Once again we can’t go up without crampons and spikes. So we have to abandon the idea of hiking up to Mueller Hut (too bad because the hike looked amazing). And we have to settle for the more famous Hooker Valley trail.

But before that we setup the van in the nearby campsite. This paid campsite is managed by the DOC (Department of Conservation), and is surrounded by snow capped summits.

Hooker Valley Track

After a picnic at the campsite, we start the Hooker Valley trail. This hike goes through the valley, passing by the Mueller lake and finishing at the Hooker lake. It is by far the most popular hike (or should we say walk) among tourists, because of its landscape, easy access and incredible views on the Mount Cook. It’s the type of hike we would have loved to do at 7 am, like the ones around Wanaka and in Milford Sound, but unfortunately the weather looks pretty bad tomorrow, so we decide to go in the afternoon.

So early afternoon, we head out on the trail towards the Hooker lake. And right at the start, what we feared is happening, loads of tourists are on the trail (75% from China). It’s going to be tough but we try to concentrate on the landscape and forget about the people around.

We get to a first nice lookout on the Mueller lake.

We continue our way (from time to time we are alone on the trail).

Until we get to a first hanging bridge, that also offers a very nice view on the Mueller lake.

The wind blows so hard we have to hold on to our hats and to the handrail.

And quickly after that we start seeing the Mount Cook.

We walk towards it without looking away. It is so beautiful.

We take plenty of pictures, from every possible angle. From afar, or zoomed in, with the river in the foreground, or maybe it looks better with the vegetation. Every new point of view is a good excuse to take a picture. And of course we had to take pictures of ourselves, to prove we didn’t just steal the pics on internet!

Walkways are built along the trail, that’s why we call this rather a walk or a stroll instead of a hike.

Despite the crowds, the walk is amazing.

The landscapes are simply stunning.

After an hour we arrive at the Hooker lake, this is the closest we will get to the Mount Cook. There is a lot of wind here, so we just stay to take a picture. Maider almost lost her cap because of the wind…

We go a lot faster on the way back, turning only once in a while to admire the Mount Cook.

But also the other snow capped summits.

Kea Point

The weather is already changing, dark clouds are appearing. From the campsite we can get to another short hike to the Kea Point, that offers a magnificent view on the Mueller lake and the Mount Cook in the background.

The clouds are getting closer and closer to the Mount Cook, and we can imagine that in a few hours we won’t be able to see it at all. On the way back there is a nice view on the valley.

Blue Lakes and Tasman glacier

After a night in the campsite of the village, we go on a hike to the Blue Lakes and the Tasman glacier. A glacier that has been melting very fast over the past hundred years. The first lookout offers an amazing panorama on the Tasman glacier and the lake of the same name. Today the sky is grey, so the pictures aren’t as beautiful as yesterday.

We then walk down to the Blue lakes, that are actually green now. Indeed, these used to be blue when they were getting water from the glacier. But now that it has shrunk, these lakes only get filled with rain water that is warmer and green. They remain very pretty nonetheless.

From here we also have a nice view on the valley.

We hit the road again and stop a few times along the Pukaki lake to take some final pictures. Unfortunately the colors aren’t as beautiful with the rainy weather. We take a few last pictures of the Mount Cook and Pukaki lake as we drive towards lake Tekapo.

Lake Tekapo is less than 20 miles away from Pukaki. And the color of this lake is once again amazing. Despite the weather, we can really see the turquoise blue color. Amazing !