Mount Cook Things to Do

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The visitor centre at Mt Cook/Aoraki is quite amazing. It is full of imformation about the area including Maori history, wildlife, climbing history and the mountains. There are examples of Maori art and some beautiful stained glass windows featuring flora and fauna of the area.

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Mount Cook or in the Maori, Aoraki is the highest mountain in New Zealand. It is 3,754 metres high and is in the Southern Alps, the mountain range which runs the length of the South Island.

It is a popular tourist destination all year round and on the list of challenges to mountain climbers. The Tasman Gacier (to the east) and the Hooker Glacier (to the west) flow from the peak.

It is part of Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park (established in 1953) which, along with Westland National Park, Mount Aspiring National Park and Fiordland National Park forms one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The drive to Mt Cook from either Twizel or Lake Tekapo is fantastic for scenery. Both roads join at Lake Pukaki then follow the lake until its head.

We did the Glacier Explorers boat ride on the Tasman Lake in Jan 2009. We booked over the internet (google Glacier Explorers I think). It was pretty expensive but definitely worth it. They pick you up at the main hotel at Mt Cook Village (you also have several accomodation options there) and take you in a bus for about 15mins then you have to walk for probably another 15 mins or so (you need some fitness but many people of all ages were doing this.) Then into the little boats for some time on the lake and getting up close to the icebergs. You didn't get super close to the glacier (safety reasons of course) and the guides were young, enthusiastic and seemed pretty knowledgable. I really recommend this activity. I would probably even do it again if I went back there. It was so relaxing and like being in another world. By the way we stayed at Lake Tekapo and just made a day trip out there. About an hour away. We were happy with that decision. Also at the Hermitage hotel there are several activities/museums that you can pay to go into. We didn't do this but walked 'down the hill' about 4 mins (following the signs) to a 'free' information centre. Have a great trip.

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We are not big walkers but on arriving at Mt Cook we were compelled to do a short walk. The weather was warm & sunny. Perfect for a walk. There are many walks to do around Mt Cook and the Tasman Valley seemed a good spot for us. It's about a 20 minute drive from Mt Cook Village and has some suitable walks for the likes of ourselves.

As it was a quite a warm summer's day (by NZ standards lol) we took a dip in 2 of the glacier pools.....brrrrrrrrrrr not something we would do every day as it was freezing. But can say we did it :-)

The view back down to plain and Lake Pukaki is awesome.

The journey continued... passing along the shore of Lake Pukaki again to our last destination... Queenstown, which also provide a beautiful scenery. Well... the Kiwis are so lucky to have this beautiful country.

I was so regret didn't stay several nights in this area. To be honest, I didn't expect this beauty while I planned the trip. I thought it might be looked like Mt. Fuji in Japan which is so famous but offers nothing but disappointment. Perhaps I should plan for another trip to New Zealand soon.

Even during summer, one-third of Mt. Cook National Park's area is permanently snow-covered. With the highest mountain in New Zealand (Aoraki/Mt. Cook) and the longest glacier in Australasia, plus 25 peaks over 3,000m and a few hundred over 2,000m, Mt. Cook National Park offers a very stunning view.

For a few hundred dollars, we can join the heli or plane flights for a bird-eye view of the Mt. Cook and the area.

The Mt. Cook National Park is sleepy while the crowds left, but there are many kind of activities to do in the area that worth the stay, such as several day-walks, Glacier Explorers boat tour to or kayaking on Tasman Glacier or 4WD tour.