Our final South Island stops before flying to Auckland were visiting Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park and Lake Tekapo. We had a big rainstorm in the middle of our stay at Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park, but that meant that many waterfalls appeared. On either end we had perfect weather to enjoy the park with a couple hikes and exploring the Tasman Glacier by boat. In Lake Tekapo we enjoyed exploring the area around the spectacular lake.
Kea Point Hike for Sunset
Since we drove in on a beautiful day we decided to do a hike to Kea Point for a picnic dinner and sunset on Aoraki/Mt Cook. The hanging glaciers on Mt Sefton were amazing and the alpine glow on Aoraki/Mt Cook was gorgeous. We were the only ones there!
Tasman Lake/Glacier Explorer
The next morning we took the Glacier Explorers boat tour of Tasman Lake. We got a fascinating education on icebergs and glaciers. The ice is pure without any air bubbles due to the pressure pushing them out over thousands of years. We were able to taste glacial ice right from the source.
Rainy Day Adventures
We had long, heavy rain on our third day in the park. They have a great visitor center and a museum focused on Sir Edmund Hillary, a New Zealand native, who climbed Aoraki/Mt Cook as training for Mt Everest. After our indoor activities we took a drive around and looked at the many waterfalls that had appeared.
Hike to Hooker Lake
The most popular hike in the park is the Hooker Valley hike to Hooker Lake. We actually hiked it twice. The first time, as the storm was coming in, we hiked it thinking it could be our only chance. Luckily on the day we were leaving the storm cleared and it was a perfect day with no clouds in the sky, so we did the hike again. Most of the pictures below are from the second hike.
Lake Takepo
After Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park we drove to Lake Tekapo. We hiked the Mt John Summit Track for views of the lake and glacier country. The lake is an amazing glowing blue.
The town has a picturesque little church called the Church of the Good Shepherd and a beautiful walk along the lakefront.
These two stops wrapped up our South Island trip. From there we flew from Christchurch to Auckland to start the final month of our adventure.