Aotearoa’s tallest peak, the majestic Aoraki, rises 3,754m above the kaleidoscopic plains of Canterbury’s Mackenzie District.
Come nightfall, big blue skies are replaced by cinematic starlit heavens known as the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, the largest in the southern hemisphere and one of the world’s best places to stargaze.
For South Island’s Ngāi Tahu, the majestic mountain is a tapu ancestor. According to legend sky father, Raki, married earth mother, Papa-tūī-nuku, and their four sons – Ao-raki (Cloud in the Sky), Raki-ora (Long Raki), Raki-rua (Raki the Second), and Raraki-roa
(Long Unbroken Line) – visited from the heavens in a waka. When they tried to return to the skies, their waka capsized and turned to stone, forming the entire South Island. Aoraki and his brothers scrambled on to the side of the waka and froze, forming the mightiest peaks in the Southern Alps, with Aoraki standing the tallest.
Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park is part of the Te Waipounamu Unesco World Heritage Area, home to five massive valleys – Godley, Murchison, Tasman, Hooker, and Mueller – along with 140 peaks that reach more than 2,000 metres into the heavens which are patrolled by the likes of the kea, the rock wren, and the kakī – a wading bird that’s also one of the world’s rarest. Forty percent of the lands are covered by more than 60 glaciers – including the 27km Tasman Glacier, New Zealand’s longest, which you can spot from the highway on the way in.
Such an environment, of course, makes for an outdoor enthusiast’s mecca. A network of world-class tramping tracks allow visitors to spy on the park’s mighty natural attractions, including the easy one-hour Tasman Glacier Lake Walk and the half-day Hooker Valley Track. The latter is one of the nation’s best strolls, like walking through a watercolour painting with Aotearoa’s mightiest peak rarely out of sight. Other must-do activities include flightseeing, kayaking, and biking.
Both Twizel and Takapō/Tekapo serve as gateway towns to Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park. Twizel is the largest town of the Mackenzie District, but tiny Takapō/Tekapo is its star settlement, perched on the banks of its eponymous turquoise lake – a true South Island icon. The nearby Church of the Good Shepherd is another local icon, while Ōtehīwai/Mount John affords expansive Journeys lake and alpine views as well as hosting the University of Canterbury Ōtehīwai/Mount John University Observatory. Here, through, the Dark Sky Project, guests can marvel at the starlit southern skies and learn of the stories and the science behind them.
Within the national park, tiny Aoraki/Mount Cook Village sits encircled by the jaw-dropping Southern Alps and hosts the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre within the Hermitage Hotel which pays tribute to New Zealand’s favourite son by way of mountaineering memorabilia, narration from the man himself, a planetarium, and a 3-D cinema where documentaries include the epic tale of scaling Mount Everest. There are also further opportunities to marvel at the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve through state-of-the-art telescopes.
Alps2Ocean Cycle Trail
The Alps2Ocean Cycle Trail is a life-affirming journey that begins in the shadow of Aoraki and heads east across the Mackenzie Basin to finish 300km later in the coastal town of Oamaru. The longest continuous ride in Aotearoa New Zealand, it passes spectacular features such as glaciers, lakes, hydroelectric dams, and ancient Māori rock art.
Discover more at alps2ocean.com
