Aoraki Mt Cook on a sunny, clear day

This was my third visit to Aoraki Mt Cook National Park, and the weather was absolutely incredible -- sunny and clear and reasonably warm! It was such a lucky opportunity that we were there on that day, and it really made a good final day of our roadtrip. I took lots of photos of Aoraki, since it is the first time I have seen it so clearly and for so long. Doing the Hooker Valley Track walk offered us incredible views the whole way in and out. And there were still a few icebergs on the glacial lakes to check out.

view from Mt Cook Village

our first 'peak' at Aoraki/Mt Cook :)

view looking back at Lake Pukaki with its gorgeous turquoise water

this kind of reminded me of the shape of NZ

Hooker Glacier

South Island Itinerary: Mount Cook and Hooker Glacier

On our second day in Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park, we hiked the longer Hooker Valley Track, which took us through a beautiful, almost enchanted glacial valley with mountain peaks towering over us on either side and lots of snow and fog. The peak of Aoraki stayed stubbornly shrouded in cloud, but it was still majestic in its mystery. The end point was a lake full of bits of ice, and people were dumbly trying to stand on it to see if it would hold their weight (yes, I might have tried it a bit too - the thrill and sound of cracking ice are too cool!). We had to cross several swing bridges there and back, and the rain started up just as we made it back to the parking lot - we were quite lucky in the weather while here! This walk and photos will definitely be a long time in memory.

You can just make out the glaciers

weta bug near the restrooms

Gorgeous mirror effect in the lake

South Island Itinerary: Mount Cook and Tasman Glacier

This was my second trip to Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park this year, and it has become one of my favorite places in New Zealand, easily. There are so many glaciers and mountain peaks and you're nestled in the valley surrounded by them. Plus, driving up Lake Pukaki to get there is great in itself because it is such a beautiful lake with stunning blue water.

The first day we did a short hike to the Tasman Glacier overlook (in winter, you can't go on the lake). It's surprising how much dirt settles on top of the glacier, because your first thought of a glacier is usually ice, not mounds of dirt obscuring it. But the icebergs floating in the terminal lake are less dirty and have cool patterns of dirt on them as they flip and bump and dissolve.

These ducks were on some smaller lakes on the hike to the overlook.
They are called "Blue Lakes" but the algae has turned them green.

Close-up of the Tasman Glacier. So dirty!

Tour helicopter making the rounds

Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park

Although Aoraki/Mount Cook was a no-show because it was encased in fog/clouds the whole two days we visited, it was a nice trip to the mountains and a good chance for me to visit for the first time one of the most popular tourist areas on the South Island. It was around four hours to drive from Christchurch to Mount Cook with some beautiful views of the country along the way. We stayed at the Glentanner Park Centre which is just outside of the park, and it has good views of the mountains and is close to the lake which you can walk to. There were also chickens and lots of bunnies around.

We drove into Mount Cook Village for dinner since there isn't anything else around, and the food was quite tasty at the Old Mountaineers' Cafe, Bar and Restaurant. The next day, because of the weather (or not enough people for them to make up a group), the tour company cancelled our morning tour, so we had to wait around to see if any of the afternoon ones would go through. Thankfully, a later one did so we were able to go out on a boat on the Tasman Glacier terminal lake. It was a bit more extreme than it sounded like online (whoops!), but it was so much fun to get right up to icebergs that had broken off from the glacier that day or the previous day and touch them and then hold a chunk that the tour guide broke off for us. The shades of blue are so gorgeous! My camera kept getting wet but I got a few good shots. We went really fast on the way to and from getting closer to the glacier itself, and so we got soaked on the way back because of the wind and going against the water flow. At the end, we almost saw one of the big icebergs flip, but it got stuck on the bottom of the lake -- we did see it start to tip and rocks and debris falling off of it as it moved. There were lots of wildflowers along the path as well, so all in all a fun experience nestled in the mountains.

Rob Roy Glacier Hike

I planned on doing the biggest and longest hike -- the Rob Roy Glacier Hike -- on our first full day after arriving in Queenstown to ensure we would have the energy to finish it. And it's a good thing I love glaciers, because it was a hard day for sure. To get to the start of the track, it was an hour to Lake Wanaka, then another hour, which I hadn't realized.

rough idea how far the glacier area was from Queenstown

The last 30km were on an unpaved farm road, and 30km doesn't sound like a lot until you're on an unpaved road for that long and your hands are going numb from the vibrating steering wheel and you're wondering when you are finally going to be done with it. We saw a glacier on the way there which helped encourage us to stick it out. Like the guidebook said, there were 9 fords to cross on that road. Thankfully, none were too bad. When we finally made it to the parking lot, we were glad to see many other cars there and other hikers preparing to start out.

this was a promising sight while on the dirt road -- a glacier!

I was not prepared for the blasting winds and droplets of rain/river water pinging my face as we traversed the first section of open fields. It literally stopped me in my tracks and almost bowled me over several times. I was tempted to turn back, but I saw that the track went into forest ahead and figured that that would cut down on the viciousness of the weather.

We made it across the swing bridge and settled into a slow but steady hike with our rainhoods on to keep out the constant sprinkling. We hadn't hiked in a while, and it was uphill most of the way. We reached the Lower Lookout after 2 hours and were tempted to head back, but the view wasn't that great and since we'd come all this way, we decided to keep going the 30 minutes more to the Upper Lookout. So glad we did! The view of the waterfalls and several glaciers was great, despite the rain making it difficult to photograph. It's hard to capture the sounds of the hike -- the river running alongside most of the track was so loud, it was hard to think sometimes, but that's part of the enjoyment of hiking for me. The wind blew one of the waterfalls sideways at one point which was fun to watch.

view from the Lower Lookout

view from the Upper Lookout

Glaciers are awesome!

The hike back was difficult because of having to go downhill -- hard on the knees. A few groups of fresh hikers passed us and I felt relieved to be on the way back to the carpack, not just starting out. Of course, now we had to go back another 30km on that dirt road. We did get to witness sheep crossing a bridge in front of us and took a video of them running and leaping to avoid the car. Their "bahs" are so cute! We stopped briefly in Wanaka to stretch our legs, then made the drive back to Queenstown.