Lake Tekapo and Mount Cook

My next morning was another early start for my long trip to Mount Cook via Lake Tekapo. It takes around four hours to reach Mount Cook which is approximately an equal distance between Christchurch and Queenstown. There were one or two people on the trip that were going on from Mount Cook to Queenstown – if I visited New Zealand again, I may well consider this option as I hadn’t planned to visit Queenstown on this trip.

The first stop on my trip was Lake Tekapo, which was beautiful and especially with the sun shining on it – the reflections from the sun almost looked like torches flashing on and off on the surface of the water. The lake is a crystal-clear highland lake and township and is located in the Mackenzie basin. You can also view the old Church of the Good Shepherd here which was built by the Mackenzie pioneers to provide a place of gathering and worship. We got quite a nice length of time here before we had to continue on our way to Mount Cook.

Mount Cook (Aoraki) dominates the Mount Cook National Park and is the highest mountain with the longest glaziers in New Zealand. It stands at around 3,724 m and is said to have assisted Sir Edmund Hillary in his plight to conquer Everest. The mountain range in this area is absolutely stunning – words can’t really describe its beauty, so I hope that some of my photos will. The perfect blue sky contrasted with the snow-capped mountain range, and when you arrive at the parking area for the park there are several different walks you can take that will enable you to get a full appreciation of the area. I chose to do the longer walk which would hopefully take me between 2 and 2.5 hours and went over several suspension brides and out to the glazier on the far side. This was a beautiful walk, and it really wouldn’t have been the same on a bad day. I think it actually took me nearer to the 2.5 hours and I had to turn back slightly sooner than planned due to time constraints – probably because I was taking too many photos and videos! Still, I may not get there again, so I felt that I needed to get as many photos as I could so that I could remember this amazing experience forever.

There is a great hotel up at Mount Cook that looks incredible with fantastic views, but I can’t imagine how expensive it would be? Other than a stop off at a coffee shop for refreshments on the way out, I didn’t have to buy any more food or drink, which was good and made a change, as packed lunches were provided. It was a fantastic day, and everyone was extremely tired by the end of it - I think most of us fell asleep on the way back!