Exploring the Mackenzie Region, New Zealand

6 years of my last 7 years i have spent exploring almost all the corners of the magical country named Aotearoa (Maori name for the country of New Zealand). I was blessed to capture endless travel and photographic memories but today I would like to share my experience of Mackenzie district. This has always been on my bucket list but even after 3 prior visits to South Island, i couldn't plan ahead to explore the Magnificent Mount Cook (Aoraki - highest peak of New Zealand), Lake Tekapo, Lake Pukaki not to mention the Glacier fed lakes - Hooker and Tasman. Finally, in August 2018 i managed to complete this trip. The two hours flight journey from Auckland to Christchurch Airport was beautiful as we got the mesmerizing looks of the snowy Southern Alps lit up in a perfect balanced morning glow. After a perfect start we enjoyed the Morning coffee with delicious muffins at the airport and started our long drive towards the Aoraki Mount Cook Village. The 320 kms drive was interesting and as we entered the Mackenzie district, we experienced the calm and clear blue water of Lake Tekapo, admired the beauty of the Lake Pukaki in pink hour, enjoyed the first looks of the Mount Cook from Peter’s lookout point, gazed at the pitch dark night sky to witness the Galactic core- milky way formation, ventured across the tracks of Tasman Glacier and Hooker Glacier and felt the nascent beauty of Mother Nature all around.

Lake Tekapo, the iconic picturesque gem is famous for stargazing at night. It is part of a UNESCO Dark Sky Reserve. On the shore of the breathtakingly blue waters of Lake Tekapo and framed by the Southern Alps sits the iconic Church of the Good Shepherd.

Pic1: Lake Tekapo.

Pic2: Church of the Good Shepherd.

Next stop was, Lake Pukaki. It is the largest of three roughly parallel alpine lakes running north-south along the northern edge of the Mackenzie Basin. This lake proudly shows off New Zealand’s tallest peak, Aoraki/ Mount Cook, from the many look out points around its shores, one of them being the Peter’s lookout. We managed to capture some of the beauty under the fading colors of dusk.

Pic3: Lake Pukaki.

Pic4: First Looks of Mount Cook from Peters lookout.

When we reached Mount Cook Village, it was pitch dark and the sky was swarming with endless number of stars. The beauty of the nightsky can be experienced from any corners of New Zealand but from Mount Cook National park, it was simply Wow!.

With an objective to capture the Galactic Milkyway core over the Alps, we started towards the Tasman Glacier well before dawn hour. The Blue Lakes and Tasman Glacier View tracks were fairly easy to explore and as expected the beauty of the frozen Lake with floating Glaciers was magical.

Pic5: View from Tasman Glacier View point

Pic6: Frozen Tasman Lake.

Pic7: Floating glaciers over the Tasman Lake.

The second part of the day adventure was started from the car park of the Mount Cook park. The famous Hooker Valley offers some of the best views in the Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park that are not too difficult to access. During this hike we walked next to 2 lakes, crossed the river 3 times and enjoyed mountains all around. This was the best time of our entire trip. This 2h return walk to the shore of the Hooker glacier lake provided an opportunity to see icebergs floating with the Mount Cook standing guard.

Pic8, 9: Hooker Valley track

Pic 10, 11, 12: Hooker Lake

As the day faded we witnessed some low cloud cover which added more vibe to the beauty of the place but at the sometime eliminated chances to explore the night sky.

Pic 13: Hooker Valley track

Our last day venture was more of a recap, as we captured more memories of the tracks, Mount Cook road, Lakes and enjoyed the long drive back to Christchurch. Eventually we did spent a couple of hours watching the windy rough west coastline of Christchurch before catching the flight back to Auckland. I am glad to share my memories of this journey which would be a special one for me as this was the last of my ventures before I left New Zealand permanently in December 2018.

Pic 14: New Brighton pier

Photos: (C) Anupam Hatui's Photography

#Mackenzie #newzealand #mountcook #nature #landscape