Mount Cook, or Aoraki in Māori, is the highest peak in New Zealand at 3,724 metres. This giant dominates the dramatic alpine scenery and high wilderness landscapes of Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park (3 hours drive and about half way from Christchurch to Queenstown). The Park is home to more than 140 peaks over 2,000 metres and some of the longest glaciers in the Southern Hemisphere. The Alps stretch hundreds of kilometres north and south from here too. Surprisingly the Park is much closer to the West Coast than the east, even though access is from the east. Trying to imagine it? Think Switzerland but more remote, perhaps more like Patagonia’s Fitzroy.
Aoraki is a place of profound cultural significance to the Ngāi Tahu tribe, who regard the peak as a sacred ancestor. It's a guardian of the land, a symbol of their connection to the earth, sky, and waters that shape this special part of New Zealand. In 1998 a treaty settlement added the Māori (Ngāi Tahu) name to the English one to arrive at Aoraki/Mount Cook.
The towering Aoraki has long since captured the imagination of adventurers and climbers, including Kiwi, Sir Edmund Hillary, who honed his mountaineering skills here before his Everest ascent. It's considered a complex and somewhat fraught climb, but not technically difficult from an experienced mountaineer's perspective. It's certainly only for expert and experienced alpinists though.
For more accessible adventures, the park has plenty of world class day hikes.
The Hooker Valley Track, with its swing bridges and glacier-carved valleys, is particularly popular, offering unimpeded views of Aoraki and the icy Hooker Lake.
As is the challenging trek up the ‘stairway to heaven’ to Sealy Tarns, rewarding its climbers with an incredible vista of braided rivers and high peaks.
Adventurers can also explore the Tasman Glacier, where they can experience walking on a glacier’s surface, or fizzing around icebergs in the Tasman meltwater lake.
Mount Cook ‘village’ basks on the sunny side of the wide, braided Hooker Valley, gazing up across the tussocks at the towering Alps. It's a fun spot with a few cafés and eateries, an info centre, a hotel, and lodges, along with many walking trails to explore. A very pleasant place to while away a day or two. And as night falls, the Park transforms into a sanctuary for stargazers. The Aoraki Mackenzie Dark Sky Reserve is one of the largest in the world. Wrap yourself up warm, gaze up at the crystal-clear skies, and diminish yourself as you marvel at constellations in sparkling clarity.
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