Aoraki / Mount Cook

The Maori named the highest mountain in New Zealand after the deity Aoraki 'the one who pierces the clouds', its English name was given in honor of its discoverer Captain James Cook. He has been with us since the beginning. :)

At 3724m, it is slightly lower than our Grossglockner but just as impressive. One third of the entire national park is permanently covered in snow and glacier ice. The glaciers in this area are fed by 45m of new snow each year. However, they are still shrinking.

There are several glaciers in the national park but one was named after our Emperor Franz Josef, as it was explored by an Austrian - Franz Josef Glacier!

Our plan from the beginning was to climb the summit of Mt. Cook. It would have been possible to pack our own equipment, but it would have been too much effort for just this one summit. Mt. Cook is technically a big challenge and climbing it on our own would have been a dangerous undertaking. A guided tour was unfortunately too expensive, so we decided to take a helicopter flight. It was also equally impressive and worth every cent.

The glaciers reach down to under 500m above sea level and when flying over the area, you can see the peaks, the glaciers, and the sea in the background. A natural wonder like no other. We have always wanted to fly over the Alps in Austria. Since the New Zealand Alps are very similar to ours, but the flight is clearly cheaper ;) *haha* we took the opportunity!