Mt Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand. I visited New Zealand in September which is the start of the spring season. September is a perfect time to visit Mt Cook because Mt Cook is usually covered with snow during this season and the surrounding landscape looks perfect.The temperature remains between -5 C to 10 C throughout the entire day. Mt Cook National Park features number of popular hiking trails. I visited Mt Cook as a day tour from Queenstown.
I started from Queenstown at around 7.30 am and after 5 hours bus ride i reached Mt Cook at 12.30 pm.
I booked the bus ride from Great Sights New Zealand. The tickets are very reasonably priced and the buses are very comfortable for long journey. The ride passes through some of the beautiful landscapes of New Zealand. We had two scheduled stops and another three more short stops for taking pictures of the beautiful landscapes. Our first stop was Lake Dunstan located near Cromwell town. The town was situated by just 40 minutes drive from Queenstown. We had a short 10 minutes stop for taking photographs near the beautiful lake Dunstan.
Before reaching town of Twizel we had another stop of 10 mins for taking photographs. The landscape looked beautiful and unique at this location. The snow capped mountains and the completely empty roads looked absolutely stunning.
The last part of the ride from Twizel to Mt Cook Village was the most scenic part of the trip. Lake Pukaki was situated adjacent to the road and the view from the bus was fantastic. We had a brief stop for 15 minutes near viewing point of the lake. I was able to notice snow capped mountains and Mt Cook from the viewing point located near the lake.
After another short ride of 30 minutes we stopped at another location in order to capture perfect picture of Mt Cook. The location was very popular among tourists and locals. The photograph of Mt Cook and the surrounding landscapes taken from the location has been featured number of times in different tourist campaigns. The road runs completely straight to Mt Cook village and our guide requested us not to take pictures from the road because most vehicles travel very fast in this part of the road. The view of Mt Cook was perfect from the view point and it felt like the road goes directly to Mt Cook.
After a short ride we reached Mt Cook Village and our bus stopped at Hermitage hotel. Hermitage hotel is the largest building in the area and it is a preferred choice for anyone who is looking to stay overnight near Mt Cook.
The return bus to Queenstown was scheduled at 2.30 pm and i had only 2 hours to explore the park.There are number of famous trails around the Mt Cook village but most trails takes on an average 3-4 hours. The advance trails around the Mt Cook village takes about 6-8 hours to a day. I opted for a simple 1 hour trail around the Mt Cook village. If you are visiting during winter season then i would strongly recommend to wear hiking shoes because the entire trail was covered in snow. Mt cook and the nearby mountain range was completely covered in snow. It was a clear day and i was able to see some helicopters and scenic flights flying near Mt Cook. Scenic flight around Mt Cook is a popular tourist activity. Climbing season of Mt Cook starts from November and it lasts for 4 months. The best views of Mt Cook can be enjoyed from Hooker valley hiking path but i couldn’t do the trail because i had less time.
The Hermitage hotel also features 2 restaurants and Sir Edmunt Hillary Alpine Center. I took my return bus to Queenstown at around 2.30 pm and reached Queenstown at 7.30 pm. We followed the same route during our return journey to Queenstown. Overall i really enjoyed my day trip to Mt Cook National Park. If you are really into hiking then i would strongly recommend to spend at least 2 days near Mt Cook National Park.
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