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Aoraki

Mount Cook National Park

By Javi Lorbada

May 14^th, 2019

Prior to Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, we came from Lake Tekapo and previously Mt Sunday.

We kinda rushed into this area, cause the weather forecast allowed us a few terrific days, but it wasn't gonna hold for long and we tried to take advantage of that.

So, after lunch, we drove towards Lake Pukaki and we were planning to spend the night there, however, we arrived earlier than expected and continued towards Aoraki/Mount Cook Village for the overnight.

The road next to the lake was by far one of the most amazing roads we've driven in.

The sunset light was gorgeous and we were driving for about 45min with Mt Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand, just in front of us all the time, not only that, we had the amazing turquoise watercolor and the whole valley to see, priceless to do this route.

Once we arrived at the village we checked information point but it was closed so we went to the camp for the night where I took some more time capturing some stars, and it was certainly one of the clearest skies I have ever seen.

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Waking up with the light show is the way I like to wake up, and, although we were just at the campsite the view of Mt Cook and surrounding was just gorgeous!

Then we had breakfast to get enough energy for the Hooker Valley Walk.

The day was going from ok-ish to shit weather speaking that was said by the forecast, so we didn't stay long for breakfast and started the track towards Hooker Lake.

It took us a bit longer than we thought but we stopped at every hanging bridge and spot for a picture, I knew, given weather predictions that on the way back we could have no view of the mountains, no light and rain, and that, indeed, happened.

At the lake, we had a quick coffee and as soon as Mt Cook was covered by the clouds we headed back for lunch, then, started rain quite heavily. Good, we were at the van. The Hooker Valley Walk is one of the most beautiful walks and it's fairly easy, in fact after having done it and seeing its beauty I regretted not having to wake up for sunrise in there.

After lunch we visit the information center to ask about Mueller Hut route for the day after, we were advised not to go, sadly safety comes first and expose ourselves to 80km/h winds and risk of avalanche with no Alpine experience were enough reason to not go. I say sadly cause I really wanted to spend a night up there.

The day finished with another walk at the Tasman Lake and Glacier, it was short but wonderful as well, being surrounded but these mountains make you feel small yet amazed by them. The weather though, no words.

We had walked around 19km enough for the day and headed to the public shelter showers before heading to the campsite again.

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We didn’t bother waking up too early since it was raining when the sun was rising, however, the sky colors were lit again. As soon as the rain stopped we started this hike up to the Sealy Tarns. I must say it’s a pain in the ass, for real, more than 600 steps going up for about an hour, the weather didn’t help, Mr. Mt Cook wasn’t visible and the strong winds and rain showers made it a bit more challenging.

I love it nonetheless, I believe Clara did too, as soon as we reached the top, exhausted both, she said “we should do this more often” which it was amazing to hear.

Going back was even faster, I didn’t really want to get the camera wet so we went down non stop, that made the journey 2h in total, when usually is about 3h.

Sadly we had to leave Aoraki / Mt Cook area although we couldn’t see much of the mountain range. I, eventually, would love to come back and explore longer walks, like Mueller Hut and maybe, one day, try to summit Mt Cook.

We continued towards, Lake Wanaka, on our way through we decided to head further south onto Queenstown, and that will be the next story!

STAY TUNED!

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This trip through New Zealand was possible thanks to Travellers Autobarn, who allowed us to drive through the country in their Kuga Campervan in exchange for photography and blog stories.

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THANKS FOR READING.

Instagram @javilorbada | Behance @javilorbada | Facebook @javilorbadaphotography

Fine Art Prints

It's being a month since I released the Fine Art Print Shop, and I'm so excited to see the first prints being sent to the US, Germany, Netherlands, and Spain!

Thank you so much for your support! It means a whole lot to me!

If you're interested to purchase any of the available, I'm extending the use of “LAUNCH” code for 20% off your first entire order.

And, this won't last long but I'm giving away one print for my Birthday, if you want to be part of the giveaway head over Instagram in this post and simply follow the steps.

Footnotes

Fujifilm X-T2 + 16mm F1.4 + 18-55mm F2.8-4 + 55-200mm F3,5-4,8

FootNotes

Fujifilm X-T2 + 16mm F1.4 + 18-55mm F2.8-4 + 55-200mm F3,5-4,8

© 2026 Javi Lorbada

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