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Travel Destination Guide - Mount Cook
Mount Cook (South Island, New Zealand) 
Mount Cook Information
Slideshow of Photos
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Awarded 'World Heritage' status in recognition of its qualities and rare beauty, the Mount Cook National Park covers an area of nearly 7,000 hectares of majestic alpine scenery with more than one third being in permanent snow and glacial ice. The park contains 22 of the 27 peaks over 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) in New Zealand.
A special feature of this area is the mountain buttercup or Mount Cook Lily with its multitude of white blossoms that grace the land through spring and summer. The Park is also home to the mountain parrot, the kea, and also the yellow-breasted tomtit, tiny rifleman and the native pigeon.
Mount Cook township provides a quiet base for this recreational extravaganza. Dwarfed by a 'front garden' of high mountains and glaciers, the tiny village clusters at the end of the road around the Hermitage Hotel.
Mount Cook provides a wonderland for walkers, skiers and mountaineers. A popular way to experience the grandeur of this mountain area is with a helicopter or a fixed wing flightseeing trip.
Near Mount Cook and in the heart of the McKenzie Country, you'll find Lake Tekapo. This lake has an astounding turquoise blue hue reflecting the surrounding mountains, the beautiful blue/green colour of the lake is caused by 'rock flour' which is finely ground particles of rock held in suspension in the melted water from the glaciers that run into the lake.
Overlooking the lake is the Church of the Good Shepherd which was built with locally gathered stone. From the altar window there is a beautiful view over the lake to the magnificent center of Aoraki/Mount Cook.
A little further along the front of the lake is the famous statue of the working collie dog whose help was invaluable to early settlers and indeed modern shepherds and farmers in the region.
The area is popular for a host of sports including skiing and ice skating in the winter, rowing, fishing, walking, mountain biking and boating in the summer.
If you cannot join the elite few who make it to the top of Aoraki/Mount Cook on foot, the next best way is by helicopter. The Helicopter Line offers a range of helicopter flights that traverse the Southern Alps and provide you with close-up views of Aoraki/Mount Cook, the Ben Ohau ranges, and the Fox, Franz Josef, and Tasman Glaciers. All flights include a snow landing either on a snow field or on a glacier. The Helicopter Line is based at Glentanner Station, a fully working high country sheep station located just 15 minutes from Aoraki/Mount Cook Village.
In 1955 the first ski plane landed on Tasman Glacier. Since then, Mount Cook Ski Planes have introduced visitors from all over the world to the dramatic landscape of the Southern Alps and Aoraki/Mount Cook.
Mount Cook Ski Planes offer a number of scenic flights that include the chance to experience the special thrill of landing on a glacier. The absolute peace and tranquility of being on a glacier high in the Southern Alps is an unforgettable experience. Here you feel close enough to touch the mountains as you absorb the silence of this pristine alpine environment.
Another way of viewing the Tasman Glacier is with Glacier Explorers, as they cruise on the lake at the end of the Tasman Glacier. Each tour includes commentary on the history and mechanics of the Glacier. Based at the Mount Cook Village.
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Awarded 'World Heritage' status in recognition of its qualities and rare beauty, the Mount Cook National Park covers an area of nearly 7,000 hectares of majestic alpine scenery with more than one third being in permanent snow and glacial ice. The park contains 22 of the 27 peaks over 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) in New Zealand.
A special feature of this area is the mountain buttercup or Mount Cook Lily with its multitude of white blossoms that grace the land through spring and summer. The Park is also home to the mountain parrot, the kea, and also the yellow-breasted tomtit, tiny rifleman and the native pigeon.
Mount Cook township provides a quiet base for this recreational extravaganza. Dwarfed by a 'front garden' of high mountains and glaciers, the tiny village clusters at the end of the road around the Hermitage Hotel.
Mount Cook provides a wonderland for walkers, skiers and mountaineers. A popular way to experience the grandeur of this mountain area is with a helicopter or a fixed wing flightseeing trip.
Near Mount Cook and in the heart of the McKenzie Country, you'll find Lake Tekapo. This lake has an astounding turquoise blue hue reflecting the surrounding mountains, the beautiful blue/green colour of the lake is caused by 'rock flour' which is finely ground particles of rock held in suspension in the melted water from the glaciers that run into the lake.
Overlooking the lake is the Church of the Good Shepherd which was built with locally gathered stone. From the altar window there is a beautiful view over the lake to the magnificent center of Aoraki/Mount Cook.
A little further along the front of the lake is the famous statue of the working collie dog whose help was invaluable to early settlers and indeed modern shepherds and farmers in the region.
The area is popular for a host of sports including skiing and ice skating in the winter, rowing, fishing, walking, mountain biking and boating in the summer.
Locality:
Mt Cook, or Aoraki the Cloud Piercer, (3,754m) is New Zealand's highest mountain. Situated in the heart of the Southern Alps, Mt Cook is a national icon and perhaps represents the ultimate adventure in a country renowned for its high adrenalin exploits.
Entertainment/Facilities/Attractions/Things to do:
If you cannot join the elite few who make it to the top of Aoraki/Mount Cook on foot, the next best way is by helicopter. The Helicopter Line offers a range of helicopter flights that traverse the Southern Alps and provide you with close-up views of Aoraki/Mount Cook, the Ben Ohau ranges, and the Fox, Franz Josef, and Tasman Glaciers. All flights include a snow landing either on a snow field or on a glacier. The Helicopter Line is based at Glentanner Station, a fully working high country sheep station located just 15 minutes from Aoraki/Mount Cook Village.
In 1955 the first ski plane landed on Tasman Glacier. Since then, Mount Cook Ski Planes have introduced visitors from all over the world to the dramatic landscape of the Southern Alps and Aoraki/Mount Cook.
Mount Cook Ski Planes offer a number of scenic flights that include the chance to experience the special thrill of landing on a glacier. The absolute peace and tranquility of being on a glacier high in the Southern Alps is an unforgettable experience. Here you feel close enough to touch the mountains as you absorb the silence of this pristine alpine environment.
Another way of viewing the Tasman Glacier is with Glacier Explorers, as they cruise on the lake at the end of the Tasman Glacier. Each tour includes commentary on the history and mechanics of the Glacier. Based at the Mount Cook Village.
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Population: 4.035.500
Languages: English, Maori (both official)
Currency: New Zealand dollar
Currency code: NZD
Local Times:
New Zealand - Auckland
New Zealand - Chatham Island
New Zealand - Wellington
Country Dialling Code: +64
Voltage: 240V 50Hz
Electrical plugs:
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It's been Middle Earth and Narnia in the movies but New Zealand's beautiful landscapes are no fantasy.
With a varied and dramatic landscape, a long and significant cultural heritage, and some of the world's rarest and most fascinating plant and animal species, New Zealand is an ideal adventure travel destination. Take a trip here and discover why New Zealand has it all - from flightless birds to breaching whales and breathtaking fjords to erupting geysers.
New Zealand comes with a reputation as a unique land packed with magnificent, raw scenery : craggy coastlines, sweeping beaches, primeval forests, snow-capped alpine mountains, bubbling volcanic pools, fast-flowing rivers and glacier-fed lakes, all beneath a brilliant blue sky. The far north is a subtropical haven of unspoilt beaches, citrus fruits and hibiscus flowers, while volcanic mud pools and geysers feature in the central part of North Island. The South Island boasts whale watching, ice glaciers and rugged snow-covered Alps. And yes, there are many wide-open spaces.
What's more, everything is easily accessible, packed into a land area little larger than Britain and with a population of just 3.8 million, over half of it tucked away in the three largest cities : Auckland, the capital Wellington, and the South Island's Christchurch. Elsewhere, you can travel miles through steep-hilled farmland and rarely see a soul, and there are even remote spots which, it's reliably contended, no human has ever visited.
Geologically, New Zealand split off from the super-continent of Gondwanaland early, developing a unique ecosystem in which birds adapted to fill the role normally held by mammals, many becoming flightless through lack of predators.
Only in the last couple of decades has New Zealand come of age and developed a true national self-confidence, something partly forced on it by Britain severing the colonial apron strings in the early 1970s, and partly by the resurgence of Maori identity. Maori demands have been nurtured by a willingness on the part of most pakeha to redress the wrongs perpetrated over the last century and a half, as long as it doesn't impinge on their high standard of living or overall feeling of control. More recently, integration has been replaced with a policy of promoting two cultures alongside each other, but with maximum interaction. In this way New Zealand is set to forge through the new century with considerable dignity and a good deal of uncertainty.
The British represent the second largest group of visitors to New Zealand - after neighbouring Australia. But at 12,000 miles away from the UK it's a once-in-a-lifetime destination for many and takes a bit of planning.
Most British travellers either tack New Zealand on to the end of an Australian holiday and regret not having enough time, or take two or three weeks and race around like mad to see the whole country. While New Zealand is small enough to 'do' in that time, a more enjoyable option is to spend longer at just a few places - and then you have an excuse to go back! |
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Local Area Weather
Auckland, NEW ZEALAND |
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