Second Stop - Mount Cook & Hooker Valley Track

After two days at Lake Tekapo with all the amenities of a “Holiday Park” campground: plug in power, water filling station, communal kitchen, large park bathroom with exactly 8 minutes of hot water for a shower, I was a little apprehensive about our stay at a Department of Conservation unpowered campsite. I even talked about maybe cutting the stay from one night to two. Plus, the weather was forecasted for lows of 25 degrees to highs of 45 and possible rain. That didn’t sound like too fun. But, I guess you wait five minutes here and the forecast changes. 

So when we set off, the weather was clear and nearly 60 degrees. The drive was glorious! Blue lakes, rolling hills, lambs, one-way bridges, every turn offering a view of snow-capped mountains getting closer at every bend until we drove into our campsite at the very base of the mountain. It is warmer than it has been since we got to New Zealand, so we decided to hike the Hooker Valley Track while our luck held out.  

We parked at our new campsite. Which, while rugged, had the most incredible backyard. 

We gathered full water bottles, granola bars, sunscreen, sunglasses, hoodies, rain-jackets, gloves, ball caps, winter hats, and we set off for the three hour, there and back, hike. For the record, we used ALL of these things. Layers were shed and then put back on as the sun bore down or the wind picked up. 

From the start, this hike blew me away. It couldn’t be real! Green hills, rocky outcrops, huge white buttercups, swinging bridges over rushing glacier fed waters, all with the stunning Mt. Cook looming closer with every step. It was Tom’s turn to be apprehensive, but I’ll let him tell that side. 

But really, words won’t do with this hike. Here are more photos. 

At the end of trail was the Hooker Valley Lake. Huge ice chunks floated and sometimes flipped over. The kids enjoyed chopping at the bits of glacier that had washed ashore. Tom presented me with some new ice. 

We returned, made spaghetti for dinner and crashed before it got dark, which is like 9:30 right now. 

Okay, and because we loved it so much and photos don’t even really cover this hike. Here is a several minute video.