Mount Cook - Hooker Valley Track

Hello everyone,

I'm writing to you while I'm sitting in Starbucks in Dunedin. I only have 13 drafts that I can turn into posts and thought that before I add another 10 I'd take an afternoon break and write a blog. I could have done that at the campsite, but I admit that I spent the hours there uploading the photos, captioning them and then just watching a few films/series and relaxing a bit. I've got a cold - which was really only a matter of time.

I can tell you about some incredibly cool adventures. After I moved further south from Lake Tekapo, I was able to make perfect use of the weather and spent 3 days and 3 nights at Mount Cook. The journey there was simply overwhelming.

The mountain scenery was simply breathtakingly beautiful and the weather cleared up just as I arrived. Before that I had been driving in fog and light rain for some time and it was a real dream to be able to really see the scenery while driving to this absolute MUST on the South Island.

When I arrived at the DOC campsite, I turned the rice I had cooked beforehand into fried rice with vegetables and egg and cooked and ate a few things. The weather was simply fantastic and so I thought I would take advantage of the weather and the sun and walk what is probably the most famous short "hiking trail" at sunset: the Hooker Valley Track. This is a trail that leads over several suspension bridges and is extremely popular because the trail is very easy, not too steep and not too long. So it's an easy track with lots of scenery. Accordingly, there is a lot going on on this track and I have to say that despite it being low season, it was quite busy. The track is described as taking 3 hours there and back and that's pretty accurate. At the end of the trail, the hiker comes to Hooker Lake. This is a glacial lake where the glacier tongue of Mount Cook ends and melts. From the end of the lake, the edge of the glacier can be seen clearly and I was lucky enough to be able to see a few remains of glacier collapses on the lake.

I particularly like the photo in which the sun is disappearing behind the mountain range, as the peak forms its own shadow in the sun. It was a really beautiful track and I chose a good time so that I mostly had the swing bridges all to myself. Otherwise, I would also like to emphasize that I try to take the best photos in such a way that there are no or only a few people in them, if possible. I am usually not alone, especially in the main tourist areas, even though it is low season.

I was also very lucky that there was little wind and no people in the water, which meant that the water surface was very calm. This enabled me to get some really great photos of Mount Cook reflected in the water.

I then decided to put my somewhat crazy idea into action and went for a swim. I would have loved to just jump naked into the lake, but there were a few people there, so I quickly changed behind a large rock and was in the water within a few seconds. A really cool experience! Cool in the truest sense of the word. ;)

Then we went back to the campsite with an extra warm merino wool layer. On the way back I had a really nice chat with 3 girls from Christchurch. The three of them went on a weekend trip and went to the ice on the lake in an inflatable kayak to see it up close. Pretty cool! The three of them were really super friendly and further proof that the Kiwis are just super-duper-extra-cool.

On the way back I was able to enjoy the view of the end of Lake Pukaki, which was bathed in the colors of the sunset. A dream!

I had a quick snack and then went to bed. The next day the weather was perfect again and instead of hiking up to the Mueller Hut I fulfilled a dream and booked a helicopter tour. A 45 minute helicopter flight with a 15 minute landing on the Tasman Glacier. I've always wanted to fly in a helicopter and even though my budget is tight after the second car, I couldn't pass it up!

So I fell asleep excited and looking forward to the next day. I woke up again in the night and looked at the starry sky on the train. Such an incredibly good view of the galaxy!

With dreams of distant worlds, flying stars and the certainty that I was exactly where I wanted to be, I went back to sleep.

More about my helicopter flight in the next post.
Your Britta