Travelogue

Lake PukakiHerb and I had decided before we left that to gain the most flexibility in our itinerary I would double-book some nights in two different campgrounds. That way we could decide on the fly whether we wanted to stay or move on.

In this case, we had both Lakes Edge Holiday Park Camping Ground in Lake Tekapo and White Horse HIll Campground in Mount Cook booked for Van Night 2.

Since we had completed Mount John Loop hike, which was the main thing we wanted to do in Lake Tekapo, pretty early in the day, we decided to move on to Mount Cook, where we had 3 nights reserved. There our main event would be hiking the extremely popular and beautiful Hooker Valley Track, hopefully tomorrow if the weather cooperated.

The TahrThe hour and a half drive from Lake Tekapo to Mount Cook is an event in itself. Renowned for its breathtaking scenery, it is considered one of New Zealand's most spectacular routes.

Most of the drive traces the shores of stunningly beautiful, turquoise blue Lake Pukaki, a glacial lake formed during past ice ages from the glaciers flowing down from the Southern Alps, carving out the valley that now holds the lake.

As these glaciers retreated, they left behind deposits of rock and sediment known as terminal moraines, which act like natural dams, blocking the valley. Then over the years, meltwater from the glaciers gradually filled the valley, creating Lake Pukaki.

Lavender Ice Cream - Yum!The lake's stunning, bright turquoise color comes from finely ground rock particles carried into the lake by meltwater from the Tasman Glacier. These particles, known as “glacial flour,” are suspended in the water, and they reflect sunlight, giving the lake its unique hue.

Fortunately, today there was plenty of sunshine to reflect off the lake. I wish we had stopped to take more photos at one of the many viewpoints along the way, because on the way back, it was cloudy, and it pretty much looked like just an ordinary alpine lake.

White Horse Hill CampgroundWe did make two important stops though, the first of which was the Mount Cook Alpine Salmon Shop, highly recommended by our son, daughter-in-law, and 9-month old salmon-loving granddaughter, who had traveled here a few months back.

The salmon shop farms their King Salmon in the pure, cold, glacial waters that flow from the Southern Alps, near Aoraki/Mount Cook. Roughly 2 million gallons of pure glacier-fed water passes through the farms every minute, creating a refreshed environment for the fish. No hormones, vaccines, pesticides, or antibiotics are used.

Our campsite viewPlus, they have to constantly swim against the flowing ice-cold water (kind of like being on a fish treadmill), which keeps them healthy and fit with minimal solid stored fats. As a result, they have a more subtle taste and delicate texture than any other salmon.

We bought two packages of sashimi for dinner tonight and some smoked salmon to put on our bagels in the morning.

First swing bridgeThere was a statue of an animal that I did not recognize, but the lake looked so stunningly blue behind him that I just had to take his photo. Then I read the plaque.

The tahr is a native of the Himalayan mountains that was introduced to New Zealand in 1904 as a way to attract tourists for recreational hunting, which seemed like a good idea at the time. With no natural predators, the tahr thrived in New Zealand and its population exploded, wreaking havoc on the native ecosystems. Now the Department of Conservation (DOC) tries to manage their numbers.

Continuing on,we stopped at the NZ Alpine Lavender Farm, another recommendation from our son. Fortunately for them, the lavenders were in full bloom in December, but pretty much faded by the time of our visit in late February.

Crossing the first swing bridgeStill, the main reason for their stop, and ours, was the lavender ice cream that they sold. I admit to being a skeptic at first, because we couldn’t picture lavender tasting very good, but for my granddaughter, we would give it a shot.

There were a surprising number of flavors to choose from: Lavender Vanilla, Lavender Blueberry, Lavender Mango, Lavender honey, chocolate and lavender, and mixed berry and lavender.

Hooker River from the bridge admit to being tempted by my usual go-to chocolate, but the woman serving ice cream encouraged me to try one of their more popular flavors, so I had the Mixed Berry and Lavender and Herb had the Lavender Vanilla. Good choice.

From there we continued up along the lake, stopping first at Mount Cook Village, which was a bit of a zoo - Mount Cook is an extremely popular destination.

So, we didn’t stay long before continuing on to the White Horse Hill Campground at the end of Hooker Valley Road,where we had a reservation for three nights.

There are no assigned sites in this campground, so it was a bit of a free-for-all to get a spot where we could squeeze in our camper van. It was already after 5:00 pm, so most of the spots had already been taken.

3rd swing bridgeThis was not a commercial campground, but rather one run by the Department of Conservation, so the facilities were pretty spartan. However, the real attraction was the phenomenal scenery right from our campsite and the easy access to the very popular Hooker Valley Track.

We immediately took out our camp chairs and faced them towards the snow-covered mountain towering over the campground. At first I thought we were looking at Mount Cook, but later found out that it was 10,338-foot high Mount Sefton (200 feet Mount Cook’s junior).

Mount Cook at lastFrom there we had a glass of wine, cheese and crackers, and our delicious sashimi salmon from Lake Pukaki.

The Hooker Valley Track, as I mentioned, is one of the most popular hikes in New Zealand, but since we were camping near the trailhead for the hike, we were able to get an early start and get ahead of the crowds.

The track follows the Hooker Valley floor for 3.5 miles (each way) to Hooker Lake.

The trail is mostly flat, with a few gentle inclines, and goes along gravel paths and boardwalks.

Hooker LakeAfter about a mile we looked down at the first of three swinging bridges over the Hooker River that we would cross. I’m glad we took a picture of it from above, because trying to a picture while on the bridge was pretty challengings because it was bouncing up and down from the foot traffic.

To the left of the bridge was the glacial Mueller Lake. Both the River and the Lake were colored by the same “glacial flour” as Lake Pukaki.

About ½ mile later we came to the second swinging bridge over the Hooker River. One more swinging bridge o go.

Brave bathersAfter about an hour of walking, we reached a wooden boardwalk and were treated to our first views of 12,218-foot Mount Cook.

The Maori name for the mountain is Aoraki, which means "cloud piercer," an appropriate name since the summit of Mount Cook is often hidden in the clouds. Fortunately for us, the mountain was No Aoraki today with clear blue skies.

Hooker LakeAfter 3.5 miles, we arrived at the beach on turquoise blue Hooker Lake. I watched as 4 people clad in bathing suits marched into what had to be some pretty cold water. On a count of 3, they all submerged their whole bodies and then quickly ran to shore to fetch their towels. Ahh..to be 30 again.

On the 3.5 mile walk back to the campground, we passed a constant stream of hikers. I was so glad that we started early enough to pretty much have the trail to ourselves.

The way backIt was only about 1:00, so we decided to drive over to the trailhead for the Tasman Glacier View and Blue Lakes hike, a short 40-minute walk for views of the Glacier and a terminal lake with icebergs.

Unfortunately, when we got there, the trail was closed, so we took the only trail that wasn’t blocked. It did eventually bring us out to Tasman Lake where there was one small lonely iceberg.

I hope this wasn’t a sign of climate change but rather the way things are in late summer.

Iceberg on Tasman LakeWhen we drove back to the campground, it was less crowded, so we picked a little more spacious campsite than we had last night.

The next morning, although we had another night booked at White Horse Hill Campground, we decided to move on to Wanaka, our next planned stop.

Our main goal here had been to hike the Hooker Valley Track, and we had done it in the absolute perfect conditions. Lucky for us, because today was starting off very cloudy, which means the lakes and Hooker River might not be turquoise blue and Mount Cook might truly be Aoraki today, as its summit most likely would be in the clouds.

Peter's LookoutWe had to retrace our drive along Lake Pukaki to get to Wanaka, and felt fortunate that we had seen it yesterday because the cloud cover was blocking the “glacial flour” in the lake from reflecting its turquoise blue.

There are many lookouts along Lake Pukaki, but Peter’s Lookout is supposed to be the best, so we stopped and took the short walk down to the shores of the lake. Wow! It was a beautiful spot with an interesting shoreline.

I can only imagine how beautiful this very spot would have been yesterday when the sun was shining brightly, reflecting off that “glacial flour,” painting the lake a vibrant turquoise.

We made just one more stop to pick up more sashimi at the Mount Cook Alpine Salmon Shop.