Aoraki Mount Cook

Aoraki/Mount Cook (3,724 m) rises over a tiny village at the end of the road along Lake Pukaki, an hour from Tekapo. The Hooker Valley Track (10 km return, 3 hours, flat with swing bridges) ends at an iceberg lake under the mountain; the Tasman Glacier lake has boat trips among the icebergs in the warmer months; ski-plane and helicopter flights land on the glaciers. There is a single fuel pump, a few hotels and a hostel: book ahead.

Highlights

• Hooker Valley Track to the iceberg lake
• Tasman Glacier viewpoint
• Glacier boat among icebergs
• Ski-plane landing on the Tasman Glacier
• Stargazing at the Hermitage
• Lake Pukaki on the drive in

Things to do

• Hooker Valley TrackMorning · 3h 30m
• Tasman Glacier and Blue Lakes walkAfternoon · 1h 30m
• Glacier boat trip on the Tasman lakeOct–MayMorning · 3h
• Ski-plane flight with a glacier landingAfternoon · 1h
• Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine CentreEvening · 1h 30m

Tours & tickets

When to go

Best time: November – April

• Lupin season at Lake Tekapo — Purple, pink and blue lupins line Lake Takapō and the road to Aoraki from mid-November to late December, the most photographed weeks of the year. Book Tekapo rooms early and come at sunrise for the light and the space.