Monday 24 April 2017

Cloud-piercing Peak - Mt. Cook

Mt. Cook is the highest mountain of New Zealand, its Maori name is Aoraki: cloud piercer. And we found out that that was a really appropriate name, because for most of our time there is was hidden in the clouds.

First glance from the shores of Lake Pukaki

Due to several reasons, we had some trouble booking accommodation for our visit to Aoraki. First of all there simply isn't a whole lot of accommodation at Mt. Cook village, especially not when you're travelling on a budget.
The second reason is that we were heading into peak season at the end of November, and we hadn't book far ahead. And the final, and unforeseen, reason was that the Kaikoura earthquake had just happened: many tourists were forced to relocate and alter their itineraries, thus making the rest of the country busier.

Hooker Valley track

In the end we found lodging in Twizel, a town at about one hours drive from Aoraki. Our plan was to drive to Twizel from Dunedin, and then have an afternoon off. After all, we had biked 60km the day before! But when we saw the weather forecast (as always a major factor in New Zealand) we decided to head straight to Aoraki and walk a bit.
That turned out to be a wise choice, because that was the only day that the peak was visible...

The longest swing bridge at the Hooker Valley

That same lovely spring afternoon we walked to Aoraki over the 5km long Hooker Valley Track. This is the busiest track in this area, and with reason. It starts at Mueller Lake and ends at Hooker lake. We walked over three swing bridges, boardwalks and rocky tracks. The landscape is very diverse and rugged, and the temperature fluctuates a lot a due to sunshine, wind and of course the nearby glaciers. 

Boardwalk in the Hooker Valley

Apart from the gorgeous landscape, we were amazed by the shape and movement of the clouds. That sounds a bit (okay a lot!) nerdy, but is really interesting.
Because Aoraki is so tall, it causes major shifts in weather fronts, and creates some really weirdly shaped clouds, that curl and move back and forth. The visitors centre at Mt.Cook Village gave a lot of details on that. The visitors centre is also the go-to place for advise on which walks are open, safe and feasible: not many during our visit!

Hooker River

The Hooker Track was simply a lovely walk, and very manageable, even with our already sore legs...
The Hooker River runs next to the track, and the track ends at Hooker Glacier's moraine lake.
We sat down at the lake shore, watching melt water trickle from the glacier front. In the lake were some huge chucks of ice.

Hooker Glacier's moraine lake at the end of the track

This micro climate has some very specific flora and fauna, like the Mt Cook buttercup: a giant buttercup that was blossoming all over the track. unfortunately we didn't see any kea, tahr or moreporks on our walk. 
The next day we came back and it was a different world all together: An icy wind, mist and a constant drizzle. Aoraki and the Mueller Glacier were well hidden from sight.
We decided to do the short walk to the Tasman Glacier Lake anyway, but the views were too bad to make any photos.

Mt Cook buttercup