This post is part of my New Zealand trip series. To learn more about the trip, take a look at this post: How we Planned a Three Week Trip to New Zealand with a Five Month Old.

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General Thoughts

If your holiday in New Zealand is limited, and you can only afford to go to one destination. Aoraki Mt. Cook National Park should be at the top of your list. Aoraki Mt. Cook National Park was easily, one of the most breathtaking areas of New Zealand. For those who are die hard Lord of the Ring fans, Aoraki/Mt. Cook National Park is an absolute must. Why? Mt Cook is the featured in The Hobbit as Mt. Erebor (the Lone Mountain). Furthermore, Mount Cook is visible from just about every area of the National Park. Not enough good and wonderful things can be said about our stay in the Southern Alps.

While visiting Mount Cook Aoraki National Park, make it a point to stop at Lake Tekapo. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, there is no grocery store or gas station in Aoraki/Mt. Cook National Park so it is paramount to stop at Lake Tekapo for gas and groceries. The drive from Lake Tekapo to the national park is about an hour. It will also be important to make a quick pit stop in Lake Tekapo while shopping for groceries and gas. Second, there are plenty of fun things that can be done in Lake Tekapo (keep reading for more).

Lake Tekapo

While we were stopped at Lake Tekapo, we visited the historic Church of the Good Shepherd. This darling church abuts the incredible, crystal clear, blue water of Lake Tekapo. During most days, the church is not open. But do not let that stop you from wandering around on the church grounds and the lake shore. This church is the only church in Lake Tekapo and does have Worship services and Catholic Masses. Please visit the church website for more information about these events.

Another place we visited was the University of Canterbury Mt. John Observatory. The Mt. John Observatory, is at the top of Mt. John in Tekapo which lies between Lake Tekapo (blue) and the smaller Lake Alexandrina (brown). During the day, the observatory grounds are open to the public (for a small entrance fee). The are plenty of activities that a family of all shapes and sizes can do here on the Observatory grounds. These activities include walking trails, dining options at Astro Cafe, and the Dark Sky Project (options and prices vary). It is also worth noting, that (at the time of our visit) the observatory closed at 11:00am. Matt and I did not visit the cafe. However, we thoroughly enjoyed walking around the grounds on the walking trails.

Aoraki Mt. Cook National Park

Personally, this was my favorite national park in the entire country of New Zealand. There was so much that we did not get the chance to see. We went on a total of three hikes during our stay here. Each of these hikes were were incredible. Furthermore, there was no part of this national park had a less than average view. Not enough adjectives can be used to describe this incredible beauty of Aoraki Mt. Cook National Park. I wish we had the ability to stay here for a week.

If you are not camping, the only place to stay is in Aoraki/Mt. Cook National Park is at Mt. Cook Village. This village is very small, with a permanent population of around 200 people (all National Park employees and their families). The entire village can be walked in about 30 minutes. Although, there is a part of the village that is off limits to national park visitors.

My family and I stayed at Aoraki Court Motel. We loved this stay. In fact, this was one of our favorite hotel stays during our trip. As we were able to see incredible views of the mountain ranges and Mt. Cook itself. Aoraki Court Motel was the only motel during our trip that had a pack-and-play set up in our room upon our arrival. Parking was not an issue at Aoraki Court Motel. Each vehicle had an assigned parking spot that relates to their room number. While Aoraki Court Motel did not provide meals, our room had a fully furnished kitchenette. A majority of our meals here were homemade. However, we did have a couple of dinners at The Hermitage.

There are a total of 12 hikes in Aoraki Mt. Cook National Park. Nine of the 12 hikes are labeled as “Easy” and “Easiest” by the New Zealand Department of Conservation. The first hike we took was the Hooker Valley Track. This hike is around 3 hours round trip. While this stunning hike offers many opportunities for photos, it is also the most popular hike in the national park. On the day that we walked this hike, we were sharing the track with hundreds of others.

The another “Easy” hike in Aoraki Mt. Cook National Park that we took was the Red Tarns Track. This track was also relatively popular. Technically, yes this is a very easy hike. Remember to take this track very slowly. This hike is entirely made of stairs. According to the Health App on our phones, this hike was only a mile long and equivalent to climbing 83 flights of stairs. However, this hike is 1000% worth the climb. At the top, there are amazing panoramic view of Mt. Cook Village and the surrounding mountains. Tarns (small, clear bodies of water) at the top of the mountain. In fact, there were times when there was no wind and perfect reflections of the mountains would often form in the surface of the tarns.

Our final hike at Aoraki Mt. Cook National Park was the Tasman Glacier View Track. If you are looking to get away from the crowds, this is the perfect hike. While there were others on this individuals hike, it was not nearly as crowded as the Hooker Valley Track. It was a relatively easy hike (about 30 minutes one way). We did make this hike after finishing the Red Tarns Track. This made it feel a little harder than it actually is.