Discover NZ’s Mount Cook: Ultimate Glacier Hiking Day Tour Guide

National Day, I participated in the Tekapo Shuttle’s Mount Cook one-day tour (149 RMB/person). I’ll briefly list the itinerary for your reference [Observing secretly R]

⏰ 08:00
Meet at the Tekapo Four Square supermarket. There were 8 people in the car, and the driver was a Japanese guy named Taro (he said his Chinese name is Ta Lang [Laughing and Crying R]). The car provided water, candy, and energy bars, and even had Wi-Fi; it was raining heavily on the way there, and Taro provided raincoats for everyone [Thumbs up R]

⏰ Around 09:20
Arrived at a viewpoint, but due to bad weather, we didn’t see anything (Pic 2)

⏰ Around 09:50
Arrived at the visitor center. If you’re participating in the glacier activities, you can get off here. We stayed for about 10 minutes to use the restroom.

⏰ Around 10:05 (Taro set a meeting time, approximately an hour)
Arrived at the Tasman Glacier trail. There are two routes: one is to turn left at the sign (Pic 3) towards the Tasman Glacier View, which involves climbing steps; the other is to turn right towards the Tasman River. Following online guides, we chose the right side, eventually reaching the glacier for a close-up view (Pics 4-7).

If you walk fast, you could probably do both routes, but I misremembered the meeting time and rushed back, missing the other route [Crying R]

⏰ Around 12:05
Arrived at the Hooker Valley Track. Remember to use the restroom at the start point ❗️ as there don’t seem to be any along the way [Sweating R]. The total distance is 10 km, and we took a little over three hours. We crossed three bridges (Pic 8).

🌟 Personally, I think the view from the first bridge is the best (Pics 9-10), just a 15-minute walk from the start.

🌟 Then, after about half an hour, we reached the second bridge (Pic 13). Along the way, you can take pictures of the snow-capped mountains 🏔️ from various angles.

🌟 Finally, the third bridge (Pic 14) was really exhausting. I kept asking when we would arrive [Disappointed R]. Looking at the photo timestamps later, it was also about a half-hour walk, but the long boardwalk made it feel very discouraging (Pic 15).

🌟 After a ten-minute walk from the third bridge, we reached the endpoint of this trip 👉 Hooker Lake View Point, where we had lunch in the wind and rain (Pics 16-17). Honestly, the scenery was a bit disappointing [Sigh R]. There was hardly any glacier left, and the lake water was quite murky. I still prefer the clear blue of Tasman.

⏰ Around 15:00, we gathered to return. Part of the way back was along Lake Pukaki, which was incredibly beautiful. Around 16:20, we arrived at a salmon shop and bought a large portion to take back [Cute R].

🙌 Conclusion: For those who don’t drive, this day’s itinerary is very fulfilling. Of course, if time is limited and you can only go to one place, I would choose Tasman 🧊.