The best budget roadie
Even the drive to Mt Cook’s most popular walking track is so scenic, cars line up on the side of the road with keen photographers hanging out the windows to capture the area’s glacial turquoise waters.
The hour-long journey from Tekapo to the entrance of the Hooker Valley Track, in Mt Cook National Park, loops around the bottom of Lake Pukaki.
The lake is famed for its vibrant blue water, coloured by a finely ground rock that flows into it.
A single road will take you to the White Horse Hill Campground car park, the starting point for the boardwalk track.
The 10-kilometre track is one of the most scenic spots in the country, a must-visit on tourist itineraries – and exploring it is totally free.
The Hooker Valley Track fully reopened in August after flooding five months earlier washed away 120 metres of track and damaged a suspension bridge used to cross the Hooker River.
We arrived early on a mild Sunday morning after staying in Tekapo the previous night.
The four-hour trip to Tekapo, wedged between Queenstown, the West Coast, and Timaru, is possible from Christchurch in a day but your best bet is to find
accommodation in surrounding towns so you can hit the track before it is over-run with tourists and blanketed in cloud cover.
If you want to camp overnight, a spot at the White Horse Hill Campground is only $15 per person but make sure to book in advance.
On our arrival, cars were piling into vacant spots, with early risers returning from dawn treks to capture the first rays of the sun creeping over the Southern Alps and New Zealand’s highest peak.
Those committed to the full three-hour return trip are rewarded with the best views: a closeup look at Mt Cook, Mueller Glacier, and the pooling ground for Hooker Lake.
The path was humming and within
90 minutes we were joining a small group devouring packed lunches at picnic tables at the end of the track.
Even on a drizzly day, like when we visited, Mt Cook’s snow-capped peak was jaw-dropping and a reminder of the importance of exploring your own backyard.
On the return journey to Christchurch, it is worth a stop in Tekapo to visit the area’s most recognisable landmark, the Church of the Good Shepherd, and catch the last of this year’s lupin season.
Lupins are considered an invasive weed in Mackenzie but are popular with tourists.
The flowers bloom from spring to summer, peaking between mid-November until just after Christmas.