trail to Aoraki

trail to Aoraki –

umbrella cloud shades the snow

covered mountain peak

Walking through meadows full of large mountain buttercups, mountain daisies, gentians and edelweiss, we have a magnificent view of snow-covered Aoraki, with an umbrella cloud shading the summit. Aoraki, the tallest peak in Australasia, was named by the Māori of the Ngai Tahu iwi (tribe). According to legend, Aoraki and his three brothers were the sons of Rakinui, the Sky Father. While on a sea voyage, their canoe overturned on a reef. When the brothers climbed on top of their canoe, the freezing south wind turned them to stone. The canoe became the South Island (Te Waka o Aoraki), and Aoraki and his brothers became the peaks of the Southern Alps.