Mt. Cook

The world renown Mt Cook is the tallest mountain in New Zealand. As we flew into this country above the clouds, this was the only piece of land that could be seen from the air. The actual drive to the mountain itself boasts some of the finest lakes in the country as it uses Mt Cook as its backdrop.

The morning we were driving there didn’t seem very promising as it was covered in clouds (apparently a common occurrence here) and we couldn’t see the peak. We drove to the local tourist office to confirm the weather report and they told us that it was scheduled to get better by noon.

We then took our chances and drove as close as we could before hopping out and doing a hike to one of its glaciers at the bottom of the mountain. The trail itself was called the “Hooker Valley trail” and it took us about 3 hours return to complete the journey. As we got there, the weather did in fact clear up as if it was New Zealand’s way of saying “welcome to our country”. As the pictures show, it was a spectacular sight to see.