Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park

About 99km west of Tekapo lies Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park. A United Nations World Heritage site, it spans over 70,000 hectares of breathtaking alpine scenery and contains 140 peaks over 2,000m high as well as 72 glaciers! It is home to Australasia’s highest mountain Aoraki/Mt Cook at 3,754m and the longest glacier in the Southern hemisphere, Tasman glacier at 29km.

It is an area of spectacular mountainscapes, tussock grassland, huge river valleys, endless high country and stunning turquoise blue lakes. In below photo, the distant peak below the noon sun is Aoraki/Mt Cook !

(click for larger photo)
Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, Aug 2006
Seeing the immense size of these mountains all around me, I am humbled and reminded of my human fragility and insignificance. One word sums up my feelings: Awesome !

Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park will be a key highlight of your vacation in New Zealand. Some things in life are worth seeing and experiencing for yourself and this is definitely one of those!