Tasman River white

Tasman River white

with glacial silt – white clouds hide

Aoraki's peak

We are hiking the trail through Hooker Valley, following the Tasman River, shallow, studded with boulders, milky white from glacial silt. Alpine flora poke up through the rocky terrain. At the head of the valley looms Aoraki, the highest peak in the Southern Alps, a shawl of white clouds spread over its snow-covered crown. An apron of white ice, the Tasman Glacier, slowly slides down the mountain. Our hike ends at a blue lake where little icebergs calved from the glacier float in the frigid water. Hot from hiking, I jump in fully clothed. Feels great!

moon over turquoise

moon over turquoise

Lake Pukaki – pink clouds

above Aoraki

From our tents on the shore of Lake Pukaki, we have a beautiful view of Aoraki and his two brother mountains through a gap in the hills. After sunset the clouds put on a moonlight sonata full of fans, curlicues and saucers. Lake Pukaki is the largest of three alpine lakes formed when receding glaciers blocked the valleys with terminal moraines. The lake is fed by the Tasman River, which has its source in the Tasman Glacier. Finely ground rock particles brought down by melt water from the glacier gives the lake its turquoise color

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.