Despite the questionable name, Hooker Valley Track is the most popular one-day track in Mt.Cook National Park. There weren't any hookers on this track, but majestic mountain, glacier and river views at the foothills of Southern Alps.
Itinerary of the day: Mt.Cook Village → Hooker Valley Track → Omarama → Omarama Hot Tubs
I always thought many of New Zealand's places with a human name were named after whoever did research in the region, but that wasn't the case. The giver of such names was German geologist Julius von Haast of 19th century. During Haast's investigation of the Canterbury region, he named hundreds of places after famous scientists - Davy, Newton, Humboldt, Haidinger, Hutton, Mueller, and Hooker, to name a few. Part of Haast's plan was to get his own name out and make friends with these famous people. William Hooker was a British botanist of the time, but he had never set foot in NZ!
This was why German place names seemed so abundant in New Zealand. The very famous tourist destination, Franz Josef Glacier on the west coast of NZ, was named after the Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire!
Last night I told myself to get a good night's sleep, but I couldn't help but got up at 2AM to take some photos of the perfect night sky. Mt.Cook is just as good place for stargazing as Lake Tekapo, and the weather was perfect today.
There is nothing quite like watching the stars in complete solitude.
In the morning, we got ready for the Hooker Valley Track. Lunch, water, sunhat and a light jacket were recommended. We drove to the entrance at White Horse Hill campsite and parked there. It would be a 4-hour walk from this point to Hooker Lake (endpoint) and back. Add 30 minutes if walking from Mt.Cook Village.
Not far from the starting point was Alpine Memorial, to commemorate climbers who had lost their lives.
View from the Alpine memorial.
There were a total of three swingbridges along the Hooker Valley Track. The first one was built over Hooker River and Mueller Lake. There used to be quite a bit of glacier ice here two decades ago, but like most glaciers all around the world, the ice had receded and not much could be seen now.
Since this track was so popular, we shared the hike with many others, including three busloads of Japanese tour groups.
Although an endangered species, the Mt.Cook Lily could easily be found on this track. We were just in time to catch the last few days of the flowering season.
As we entered the heart of Hooker Valley, Mt.Cook became closer in sight.
Optimus Prime face!
About 2/3 of the way, there was a small rescue hut called Mueller Hut. It holds a first aid kit and a basic washroom (no running water).
Even for such a basic washroom, everything was exceptionally clean. Everyone put the toilet lid down after use (to keep flies and odour out). Hand sanitizers and toilet papers were also provided. I've never been to another country with cleaner, more readily available public washrooms!
After two hours and fifteen minutes, we arrived at the end of the track, Hooker Lake. As if some parts of Mt.Cook didn't remind me enough of Peru, seeing these "apachetas" totally brought me back!
Some very nice benches were set up here for hikers to have lunch and enjoy the scenery at the same time.
When I looked up photos of this track before the trip, I wasn't at all convinced if it would be worth the time. Some people even suggested to turn back at the first swingbridge! I got to say this lake was much better seen in person than on photos. I was glad I walked the entire length.
The glaciers part of it though, was not great...partly due to the summer heat, and partly of global warming, there weren't much left. Don't come here just to see glaciers, and save the glacier-watching trip for somewhere else.
Still fun to pick up an "ice waffle" and get a taste of it though!
After lunch, we started heading back the same way we came.
I'm not sure if this place was used for any LOTR filming, but it did possess that Middle-Earth feel.
The second swingbridge. I was sure these bridges were sturdy, but they did swing quite a bit.
We returned to the starting point at exactly the standard suggested time of 4 hours. At the White Hill Campsite car park, we encountered a family of paradise ducks. Contrary to what I assumed, the white-headed one is female and the dark-headed one is male.
Their ducklings weren't startled at all when we approached to take photos, and continued on with their afternoon nap. Just showed how people of this country must be very protective of their animals.
We got in our car and continued on our journey to the next stop. As we waved Mt.Cook goodbye, we passed by Lake Pukaki one last time.
Our next stop was Omarama, a small town about only an hour-drive away.
we stopped at Four Square on the way to stock up on food. This was my first summer Christmas, and seeing all the Christmas merchandises in the store was...weird, but in a good way.
I would grab one of these whenever possible.
We also made a stop at High Country Salmon Farm. Here we could see where the salmon we ate in NZ came from, and feed some salmons (free!). We passed on the salmon sashimi because we were kind of sick of salmon at this point.
At Omarama, we stayed at ASURE Sierra Motel. There weren't much to do in this town, but it was cheaper compared to Mt.Cook Village, and also cut down driving time the next day.
This was not our favourite motel, but far from our least. The owner was super friendly as usual, and gave us a free bottle of milk. Fresh milk given at check-in instead of cream seemed to be standard protocol for NZ accommodations, and I absolutely loved it!
One of the very few tourist attractions here was the Omarama Hot Tubs. I figured we would be pretty tired from hiking at this point, so it was the perfect opportunity to soak up.
For those of you who had already seen The second Hobbits movie, remember the giant bee that was hovering over Bilbo's face?
I saw this bee outside of the Hot Tubs, and kept wondering how its little wings could ever kept its fluffy fat body in air!?
Ok back to the tubs. For 40 NZD, I thought it was a bit pricey. I've never been in a wooden outdoor tub though, so I figured I was paying the money for a new life experience.
The water was not spring water, but rather heated mountain water. A small private change room was there for storing personal belongings. Each tub was secluded by bush plants for added privacy. The firewood burning underneath heated the tub constantly, and a cold water faucet could be controlled to adjust the temperature. The staff also provided complimentary cold water and cups. Jacuzzi jets were also available.
All rejuvenated and relaxed, we returned to the motel with dinner already prepared for us! My mother opted out of the hot tubs because she had her fair share of hot springs in Taiwan and rather cook dinner. With me doing the planning, navigating and some driving, and dad doing the majority of driving, she pulled her weight by managing all our food related matters.
Perhaps it was asparagus season, but we ate asparagus in NZ pretty much everyday.
I gave my parents such an intense workout at Mt.Cook, they fell asleep right after dinner. As usual, I use this 1~2 hours alone to surf the web, organize photos and update instagram. Tomorrow we head to East Coast of South Island for a very different experience from hiking mountains!
