Mt. Cook / Aoraki in Winter

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My buddy Dan and I cancelled our second day in Wanaka and headed out to the highway to hitch a ride to Mt. Cook. The bus there is absurdly expensive (101 dollars for a three hour trip), so we had to figure out another way.

We knew it would be difficult, since there were two of us and Mt. Cook is more of a resort than it is a town. Just when we were giving up hope (after an hour and a half) three French girls picked us up, and after telling them what we'd heard about it, decided to check it out for themselves and drove us all the way there.

Captain Cook and Abel Tasman named half of the country after themselves, so the Tasman River runs near Mt. Cook, the tallest mountain in New Zealand.

We arrived at 1:30 so we rushed to check into the impressive YHA hostel there and set out for the Hooker Valley track, which leads over the highest/last moraine wall to a glacial lake right at the base of the mountain.

It's an easy walk and the track is in perfect shape. There are three suspension bridges that were a little frightening in the 50mph wind gusts, but anybody can and was walking it.

We lucked out and the clouds held off, allowing for magnificent views of Mt. Cook. We rushed back to get out of the winds and the dark. The YHA there is top-notch, but take your own food as there is no grocery and very few restaurants in town.

The next morning we only had to wait 20 minutes in the rain before we got picked up to go to Lake Tekapo. There are more photos below.

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Photos

Mt. Cook / Aoraki
The lighting is poor, but you can see how the mountain towers right over you.