Standing at 3,754m (12,316ft) Mt. Cook is New Zealand's tallest mountain. At that height the mountain is in snow all year round making for great views and pictures any time of the year. That is if the weather holds up. I have been told that Mt. Cook can be hard to see at times. One guy told me, "you could come up here 6 times and never see her." Well I guess I was lucky because I could see Mt. Cook all day and around 1:30pm the clouds behind left giving an even more spectacular view of the peak. 

After stopping into the visitors center, which is amazing, I took two trails: Hooker Valley and Kea Point.

Hooker Valley is an easy hike winding over the Hooker River taking about 3 hours round trip. The end of the trail is the glacier lake. Here actual small glacier pieces can be see in the water all around. Mount Cook stands proud behind the lake with the Mueller Glacier on the left. Kea Point was a short hour hike to the Mueller Glacier moraine wall. The wall is debris left from the retreating glacier. Great views wherever you are on either trail. 

Hooker Valley

The first woman to ever climb Aoraki/Mt. Cook was Freda du Faur. Her well know picture after the climb shows her standing in front of this rock. 

A memorial to those who died in the park.

One of the suspension bridges that is crossed over the river. 

Mt. Cook at last!

Glacier Lake

Mt. Cook in her glory!

Kea Point

A few pictures from Cromwell and the drive to Mt. Cook

For the day I traveled a total of 530km (329miles) bringing my two day total to 1123.1km (697.8miles). Tomorrow I leave Arrowtown for good. Check back each day for the next adventure.