Our Great Adventure: Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park Day 160 25/02/2015

The sun was shining when we woke and we had breakfast alfresco before packing up and heading off. The plan was to drive to Mount Cook village and then subject to the weather forecast, look to stay for a few nights in order to do one of the recommended day walks in the area. We drove south west initially over the Mackenzie Basin and stopped at Lake Pukaki which is even larger than Lake Tekapo. On a clear day the view point offers a picture perfect view over the blue lake to Aoraki and the surrounding peaks. Unfortunately not for us though as the cloud had formed around the peaks and, whilst the lake looked impressive, we couldn't see any snow clad mountains. From here we headed up towards Mt Cook village through the National Park which is part of New Zealand's World Heritage Area. Of the 23 mountains over 3000m, 19 are in this park with the highest being Mt Cook/Aoraki at 3742m. Named after James Cook it is now known by both it's Maori and English name. Sir Edmund Hillary climbed the south ridge before going to be be the first (or was it second?) person to reach the summit of Everest. We had a look around the village and as we sat outside having coffee we got our first view of the peak as the cloud started to clear. It wasn't long before it was out in all it's glory with all three summits (imaginatively named as lower, middle and upper) in full view. From here we drove up to the basic campsite at the foot of the Hooker Valley to both see the facilities (there wasn't a lot to see - no showers not even cold ones) and where our planned walk for tomorrow starts, before driving round to where you can walk up to the Tasman Lake which has a great vantage point over the Tasman Glacier and surrounding peaks. The glacier is the largest in New Zealand at 27km long and up to 3km wide but is retreating rapidly at up to 820m a year. The lake at the foot of the glacier only started to form in the early 1970's and now stretches 7km. It has a number of icebergs floating on it, most covered in dirt. After a bit more debating we decided to stay at Glentanner campsite, a little way back down the road, and take advantage of the facilities. We camped with Aoraki in full view, although it was a bit too chilly for dinner alfresco, and headed off for an early night in anticipation of a big hill day tomorrow.