One of our iconic tourist spots – Mount Cook, breathtakingly beautiful scenery at every turn!

State Highway 80 leads to Aoraki/Mt Cook Village, located next to beautiful Lake Pukaki, making it a great spot for mountain activities. With no city lights nearby, the stargazing is fantastic.

Climbers view this area as the best place for climbing in Australasia, and for those less experienced, there are many mountain walks that take you to alpine ponds, herb fields, and stunning glacier views, as well as the chance to see playful kea (mountain parrots).

There’s a nice Department of Conservation (DOC) camp close to the village with toilets and a kitchen. It’s a large and busy campsite with access to walking trails and a path to the village. However, no dogs are allowed since it is a national park.

Aoraki/Mt Cook is the tallest mountain in New Zealand, standing at 3,724m (12,218 ft). It is part of the Southern Alps, a mountain range that runs along the South Island. This area is a popular spot for tourists and a favorite for mountain climbers. Aoraki/Mt Cook has three peaks: Low Peak, Middle Peak, and High Peak, with the Tasman Glacier to the east and the Hooker Glacier to the west.

Mt Cook from the lookout at lake Pukaki.

Heading towards Mt Cook on a beautiful summers day and intending to walk some of the Hooker Valley track.

Beautiful Mt Cook, if you look closely you can see the line of parked vehicle on the road to the Hooker Valley track car park.

We couldn’t believe the amount of vehicles we saw on the road to the Hooker Valley track, vehicles parked everywhere! It took ages to get to the car park so we could turn around and head out, we decide to leave the walk until another time. We have been to Mt cook several times and will go back at quieter time.

This seemed to go on for ever! I was going to add a video but Graham was swearing most of the way through it! People and vehicles just kept getting in the way!

Finally out!

Heading back to Tekapo for a nice quiet walk by the lake 🙂

The photos below are from a post I did in 2015

The Mount Cook Alpine Memorial, commemorating climbers who have died on the mountain.

On a trip to Mt Cook in 2015 we were lucky to come across a farmer moving has sheep, what a backdrop!!

How to get there:

Turn off State Highway 8 at the southern end of Lake Pukaki and join the State Highway 80 (Mt Cook Road). At the end of SH 80 you can go to the village or the White Horse Hill car park for the Hooker Valley walk and DOC camp.

Travel time from Twizel is approx 45 minutes and from Lake Tekapo approx 1.5 hours.