Date: March 8, 2019 – March 11, 2019
Location: Lake Tekapo, New Zealand

After leaving Christchurch, New Zealand we stayed in Lake Tekapo, New Zealand for four nights. With Mark visiting us we needed a place to stay with two bedrooms, but none were available with only two rooms, so we rented a huge house with four bedrooms and four bathrooms.

March 8, 2019

To get to Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park from Lake Tekapo we had to drive around Lake Pukaki. The entire drive has great views! We stopped at the Lake Pukaki View Point at the end of the lake. The mountains were covered by the clouds in the morning.

We also stopped at Peter’s Lookout, which is about half way up the side of Lake Pukaki.

Tasman Glacier View

We hiked the Tasman Glacier View trail, which is an easy walk up some steps. This is looking out over the Tasman River that reaches Lake Pukaki.

This is Tasman Lake with the Tasman Glacier at the end of it. In 1973, Tasman Lake did not exist. Due to the glacier melting, the lake formed and is now just over 4 miles long, 1 mile wide and 800 feet deep.

The Tasman Glacier is the largest glacier in New Zealand at 14.6 miles long and 2,000 feet thick.

Tasman Glacier has significantly melted since 1990. Before the 1990s, Tasman Glacier was consistent at 17 miles long.  Since then it has been melting and shrinking in size.

Blue Lakes

On the way back to the car we hiked the Blue Lakes trail that goes off of the Tasman Glacier View trail.  Spoiler alert: the blue lakes are no longer blue. When a glacier melts the water is first grey from all of the silt. As the silt settles, the color turns blue from the fine particles that are suspended in the water. When rainwater fills a lake and algae forms in the water, the lake turns green. Since the blue lakes have not gotten new glacial water recently, the lakes have turned green from the rainwater and algae.

We liked the bird sitting on the rock and the reflection in the water.

This is a pair of Paradise Shelducks. The female has a white head and the male has a black head. 

There were a few small lakes to see on the Blue Lakes hike, but nothing all that interesting, so you can skip this hike if you are short on time.

Tasman Lake Track

Before going to the car we also did the Tasman Lake Track. The trail is mostly flat and goes to a point on Tasman Lake where boat tours leave from.  This is also a trail that we didn’t find as interesting as some others and could be skipped if you were short on time.

We then went back to the car and made the short drive from the Blue Lakes car park to the White Horse Hill car park.

Hooker Valley Track

The Hooker Valley Track is an out-and-back trail that is 5k, 3.1 miles, each way. The trail is mostly flat with 124 meters, around 400 feet, of elevation gain.

Shortly after starting the hike we arrived at the viewpoint of Mueller Glacier. Mueller Glacier is between the Sealy Mountain Range, on the left in the picture, and the Aroarokaehe Mountain Range, on the right in the picture. The large mountain that is behind the cloud is Mount Sefton of the Aroarokeahe Range. 

From the Mueller Glacier viewpoint we could see the first swing bridge.

This is the view of Lake Mueller and Mount Sefton from the first swing bridge.

This is the view of the Hooker River in the other direction on the first swing bridge.

Below is Mount Sefton and Lake Mueller after crossing the swing bridge.

After walking for awhile we saw the second swing bridge.

This is crossing the second swing bridge with the Aroarokeahe Range in front.

This is the view of Lake Mueller and the Hooker River on the second swing bridge.

This is the view of the Hooker River in the other direction on the second swing bridge.

At this point in the hike, if it is not cloudy, you can see Mount Cook.

The trail then has a large section of wooden walkways.

Here is the third swing bridge.

On the third swing bridge we could see that the clouds covering Mount Cook were clearing.

We arrived at the Hooker Lake with a great view of Hooker Glacier and Mount Cook. The Hooker Glacier is just under 7 miles long. Hooker Lake, like Tasman Lake, was not formed until the 1970s when the glacier started to melt.  

Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand at 3,724 meters, around 12,218 feet.

On the way back I noticed some large crevices in the mountains.

This one had water running down the center.

The Hooker Valley Track goes close to the Alpine Memorial before the first swing bridge and you can see it from the trail. On the way back, we went up to see the Alpine Memorial.

The Alpine Memorial is a memorial for the mountaineers who have died in Mount Cook National Park.

We enjoyed the Hooker Valley Track and recommend doing it. Unfortunately, as per the New Zealand Department of Conservation‘s website, on March 27, 2019, the Hooker Valley Track closed at the first swing bridge due to flood damage. As of May 2, 2019, the trail is still closed.

Driving back to Lake Tekapo we stopped at the Lake Pukaki View Point again since there were fewer clouds.

Driving back we could also see the University of Canterbury Mt John Observatory, an astronomical research center. 

There are many telescopes on top of Mount John, which is 1,029 meters, or 3,376 feet high. Since the 1980s, light pollution in the area has been controlled to keep it at a minimum. In 2012, a 4,300 square kilometer area of around 1,660 square miles was declared the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve. It is the only International Dark Sky Reserve in the southern hemisphere.

Lake Tekapo is in the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve. There are star gazing tours at the University of Canterbury Mt John Observatory and the Tekapo Springs.

That night we went outside the house we were staying at and were able to see tons of stars. In the southern hemisphere, the constellations are upside down. 

Here is a picture of the Orion constellation taken from Brian’s phone. Orion’s belt consists of the three bright stars in a row. The reddish star to the bottom-right of Orion’s belt is Betelgeuse. The bright star that Orion’s belt points to on the top right is Sirius. The bright star to the top left of Orion’s belt is Rigel.

March 9, 2019
White Water Rafting – Rangitata Rafts

The house we rented had beautiful sunrises each day as the sun came over the mountains.

We booked a Class 5 whitewater rafting trip with Rangitata Rafts.

The trip went down 10km of the Rangitata River and through the Rangitata Gorge. 

In our raft we were joined by a couple from New Jersey. Our group was ready for the water. Brian was just a little excited.

After learning the commands from our guide and doing a couple Class 2 rapids we had our first Class 3 rapid.

Going down the first section, the raft took on some water.

In the next section, tons of water got dumped on us. Brian’s yellow helmet in the front is barely showing above the water.

We made it out and everyone held onto their paddle.

This is going into the first Class 5 rapid.

The boat got pushed to the rocks but we got moving again before the raft tipped over. Everyone stayed in the raft and no one dropped their paddle.

After rafting there was a barbecue. The whitewater rafting was a lot of fun and I liked that it felt like we had to paddle in order to get down the river. Brian and I went whitewater rafting in Denali, Alaska, and while we paddled some, the guide could have done it all by himself if we just wanted to sit in the raft.

Driving back to Lake Tekapo, I saw what I was expecting New Zealand to look like – green grass with dots of white from all the sheep.  

While there are tons of sheep in New Zealand – around seven sheep for every person – most of the grass turns brown in the summer and the sheeps’ wool is dusty, so many times the sheep blend in with the hillside. The Peel forest area gets more rain than other areas so the grass was green.

March 10, 2019
Sealy Tarns Track to Mueller Hut Route

We went back to the Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park to do the Sealy Tarns Track. The trail is also called stairway to heaven and there are 2,200 steps to get up to the view.

On the way up, this was a view of Lake Mueller and the Hooker Valley.

This is looking towards the valley. The parking lot is in the center of the picture so we had already climbed a lot.

Here is the end of the Sealy Tarns Track.

This is the view towards Mount Sefton. 

From the lookout we could see all three swing bridges that were part of the Hooker Valley Track.

It did not take us as long to get to the top of the Sealy Tarns Track as we expected, so we decided to continue going up the Mueller Hut Route.

On the way up we saw some Kea birds.

Kea are a species of parrot that live in alpine regions on the South Island of New Zealand. They have green feathers and under their wings the feathers are orange.

The last part of the Mueller Hut Route to get up to the ridge was all large rocks. I was wearing sneakers, as I haven’t traveled with hiking boots, and didn’t want to risk rolling my ankle, so I waited as Brian and Mark went up to the ridge.

Here is the view from the ridge.

This is from the ridge looking at Mueller Glacier.

We went down the same path we went up, so we knew all the stairs were coming again. It felt like there were a lot more stairs on the way down.

Even with all of the stairs, we enjoyed the Sealy Tarns Track. The view from the ridge – shortly before reaching the Mueller Hut – is worth the hike up.

March 11, 2019

Before starting back to Christchurch, to take Mark to the airport the next day, we visited the Church of the Good Shepherd on the edge of Lake Tekapo.

Nearby the Church of the Good Shepherd is the Sheepdog Memorial.  The statue of a collie is a tribute to sheepdogs that helped successfully farm the country.

The water in Lake Tekapo is very blue and clear and we could see a duck paddling. 

The last stop on the Christchurch wine tour that we did a few days prior was Pegasus Bay. The place looked nice, but we didn’t have much time to look around on the tour. We went back to Pegasus Bay and had a bottle of wine sitting outside in the garden.

After some wine, we walked around the grounds and went down to the pond.