“Ah, nothing like a good cup of tea”. These probably aren’t the words you’d expect to hear on a mountain range in New Zealand’s Southern Alps, but it accurately sums up the feeling around camp as twelve hikers shrug off their packs and sit down to a hot cuppa looking out over Lake Tekapo. We were satisfied and we were thirsty, but most of all we were happy to have arrived at our mountain home for the next two nights.
City to country and beyond
Just 10 hours earlier, 12 strangers had met by Cathedral Junction in Christchurch, wearing our hiking gear, carrying our packs, and filled with the excited anticipation for the week of hiking ahead of us. I’d only visited New Zealand once before and that was over 10 years ago. I’ve been dreaming of a return visit ever since and the opportunity to join a seven-day hiking tour was too good to pass up. Run by Adventure South NZ, this tour is called The Best of the Southern Alps, and I couldn’t wait to get started.
After we’d been collected by our guides, Rob and Tereza, we quickly left the city behind us and drove across the Canterbury Plains towards Lake Tekapo and the start of our hike. Before long, the minibus windows were filled with expansive views of the Southern Alps/Ka Tiritiri o te Moana. Clocking in at nearly 500km long, this impressive mountain range runs almost the entire length of the South Island.
A brief stop by Lake Tekapo allowed our group to get our first proper look at the mountains ahead of us; the turquoise waters of the lake ripple in the sunlight and lead the eye towards distant peaks. Our first hike began at the entrance to the Te Kahui Kaupeka Conservation Park, and we’d be hiking around eight kilometres to Rex Simpson Hut.
Spirits in the group were high and we happily shared the load by carrying food supplies to our destination. Gareth cheerfully grabbed 1kg of carrots, a choice he came to regret a few hours later. The first few kilometres of the hike began gently as the trail leads us from the car park and into the wilderness. Even at this point, the views were taking my breath away. We may have only climbed a few hundred vertical metres from the lake, but the change in perspective has already transformed the water of Lake Tekapo into an even richer blue.
It was around four kilometres into the route that our gentle wilderness walk transformed into a decent backcountry hike. Instead of traversing the hillside, the trail pointed straight up, and we were faced with steep inclines and an ascent of 300 vertical metres over the next two kilometres. Gareth’s kilo of carrots suddenly felt like five and each false summit both raised and destroyed hopes as we climbed.
However, the great part of hiking is that if you keep on moving forward, you eventually reach your destination and before long we were atop the ridgeline and the final traverse to the hut. It was a very special moment when we caught the first glimpse of our mountain accommodation nestled in the hillside.
Our band of strangers had become united by our first day of hiking, bonded even more strongly by the difficulty of the ascent we’d just conquered. And, like I mentioned at the start, that very first cup of tea together at the hut will live long in the memory banks.
It feels a bit premature to be calling the first night my highlight for the trip, but sitting by the hut, high above Lake Tekapo, no one else in sight, and with mountains all around, this tour was everything I’d hoped for.
A plan of two parties
Rex Simpson Hut has been in its current location since 1999 and was initially built in 1985. It has two bunk areas and a generous kitchen dining area. Staying at the hut was a further bonding experience for the group, with everyone mucking in with hut chores, cooking, and tidying. The bunks were small, but comfortable and the sleeping bags were nice and cosy. For at least one of our party, it was the first night sleeping in a bunk bed for forty years.
Cool winds had started blowing during the night, but the hut was surprisingly airtight and quiet. It might seem funny to say, but getting up in the night to visit the outside toilet was a real treat. Lake Tekapo is part of the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, and its clear skies offer some of the best star-gazing opportunities in the world. Well worth stopping to look up when popping to the loo!
The winds continued into the morning and our guides informed us they’d be getting more severe during the day. This forecast, and some tired legs, led to the creation of two separate plans for the day. One group was planning a challenging hike to Beuzenberg Peak, topping out around 2070m. This is the highest point on the famous Te Araroa trail (a hike that spans the entire length of New Zealand). The second group, which I tagged along with, chose a more sheltered and shorter hike to visit another mountain hut, around 4.5km away.
Our hiking route traversed the ridgeline before climbing up and over a small rise and descending to a river crossing. Camp Stream Hut was significantly less luxurious than Rex Simpson and made a great destination for the day. Some might describe the hut as dilapidated, but I prefer to call it cute, or rustic. With the wind continuing to whip around us, we returned to our hut via the same route, with several of our group thankful for choosing the shorter option today.
Back at Rex Simpson the forecast winds failed to materialise and a pleasant afternoon with several cups of tea were enjoyed while we waited for the main group. Upon their return it seemed they’d had a much more challenging experience as their route took them high up onto an exposed ridgeline, where serious winds had them battling to stay upright. Their goal of Beuzenberg Peak eluded them as conditions became increasingly treacherous. War stories and photos were exchanged over a dinner as our thoughts turned to the next stage of the journey.
Stepping out, and up
Hiking down the mountainside the next morning we were reminded just how challenging that first day had been. After a frosty start to the day, we were soon back at the van in brilliant sunshine and heading into Lake Tekapo for lunch. We’d only been away from civilisation for two nights, but the small shopping complex by the lake seemed bustling by comparison and we sat down to eat as if we’d been gone for far longer than two nights.
Our next destination was Mt Cook Village and boy was this drive a treat. From Lake Tekapo we soon arrived at Lake Pukaki, the largest alpine lake in the Mackenzie Basin. All along the lakeside we had breathtaking views towards Aoraki / Mt Cook. Towering above the surrounding peaks, Mt Cook is an impressive 3724 metres above sea level, about 1500m taller than the highest peak in Australia.
Before checking into our accommodation, our guides encouraged most of our party to tackle a short and steep hike. The route to the Red Tarn is almost entirely made up of steps and you climb around 380m over 1km. There were some pretty views from the summit, across the valley, towards Mt Cook, but as it was a hot afternoon most of us were looking forward to our first shower in three days and the chance to change out of our hiking gear.
Up, down, and all around the Southern Alps
By this point in our hiking adventure, it had become clear to the guides that our group was happiest with a gentle pace and hikes with a moderate difficulty. With this in mind, we were given several choices for our fourth day of hiking. Prior to the trip, day four had been scheduled to involve a hike to Mueller Hut, one of the highlights of the area.
However, the route to Mueller Hut involves a combination of steps, a loose rocky climb, and a boulder field traverse. Oh, and around 1000m of elevation gain! This would have been far and away the most challenging hike of the trip. Unsurprisingly (considering the past few days), most members of the group decided that they weren’t up for such a challenging route and opted for Plan B.
Luckily, Plan B also proved to be a trip highlight, in the form of the widely acclaimed and popular Hooker Valley Track. Personally, I was torn between the two choices as both Mueller Hut and the Hooker Valley Track have been on my bucket list for some time. Thankfully, in some ways, the fates conspired to take the decision away from me. As it turned out, the top section of the Mueller Hut track was scheduled to be closed for the day. According to our guides, unusually good summer weather had seen an increased number of visitors to the hut and (not to be indelicate) the hut toilets had been scheduled to be emptied.
With all this in mind, several of us decided to hike up to Sealy Tarn, which is about halfway up the route to Mueller Hut. While not quite delivering the same views of the surrounding mountains, Sealy Tarn is a popular hike in its own right and offers terrific views back towards Mt Cook and across the valley.
After a near two-hour hike to the viewpoint at Sealy Tarn, most of which had been spent climbing 600vm of steps, I was quite glad not to be climbing any higher to Mueller Hut! The viewpoint was well worth the efforts, however, and we were able to look out over the whole Hooker Valley Track towards Mt Cook. While the other Sealy Tarners decided to push on a little higher, I carefully hotfooted it back down the stairs as I was keen to also hike the Hooker Valley Track.
Despite being quite busy (the car park was full to overflowing) I thought the Hooker Valley Track was an absolute delight. It was great to see all sorts of people tackling the walk and the gentle undulating nature of the track makes it achievable. The route crosses three swing bridges on its way up the valley and the mountainous views had me reaching for my camera every five minutes.
The track culminates by opening up on the iceberg-filled Hooker Lake and the Hooker Glacier. As I cooled my feet in the glacial water, I couldn’t help but spend a moment to reflect on the sad story of the glacier’s retreat up the valley.
After a short morning bush walk close to the village, we finished our time at Mount Cook. Detouring along the Tasman River to Tasman Lake we enjoyed a hike up yet more steps (much to the theatrical groans of some) to a lookout point. Here we glimpsed another glacial lake with the distant sight of the retreating Tasman Glacier in the distance, showing the effects of our warming world.
From Mt Cook Village, we continued south to our next destination of Wanaka. It seems to have been a theme for this journey but once again we were met with a beautiful view of Lake Wanaka. The town was significantly busier than Tekapo and everyone was happy to have a free afternoon to relax, explore the town and put their feet up.
A diamond in the lake
There are many options for great hikes around Wanaka, with Roy’s Peak and the Rob Roy Glacier track among the favourites. With the Rob Roy Glacier track closed due to bridge maintenance, and Roy’s Peak being too challenging for the whole group, we decided to stick together and hike the Diamond Lake and Rocky Mountain summit track instead.
And what a great decision this was. It was so nice coming together as a whole group for this one and the 7km route was challenging, but achievable for all. As an added bonus, the track car park only had 10 cars in it, rather than the hundreds of vehicles parked at the base of the Roy’s Peak track.
Our route began by climbing steadily up the hillside towards Diamond Lake, before continuing up around the narrower and slightly technical trail to the summit of Rocky Mountain. Looking east, we had fantastic views across Lake Wanaka towards the township, and looking west we could see Treble Cone Ski Resort and the Harris Mountains of the Southern Alps. It was another day of blue skies and sunshine, and we reached the summit after two- and a-bit hours of hiking.
Rocky Mountain Summit was a treat for the eyes and very different to the Southern Alps valleys around Mt Cook we’d previously enjoyed. Once again, I couldn’t help but crack the camera out every five minutes while we ate our lunch at the summit. Despite being one of the lesser-known hikes of our week, it was another highlight for me, really showcasing the beauty of the area.
The trail down the mountain was a bit more technical than the summit trail, with steep scrambles down root-filled trails and some beautifully shady sections of forest – something we’ve experienced very little of during the week. As we drove back to town, a few members of the group hopped out to walk back to our accommodation via the Instagram-famous Wanaka Tree before we all met up again in the evening for the final dinner of our trip.
Time for reflection and one last ramble
Driving to Queenstown on our final day the mood was quiet as we reflected on the week that had been. The twelve of us had come together as strangers at the beginning of the week and through the act of hiking through the Southern Alps we’d become good friends. But before we said our goodbyes, we had one more hike to go.
We caught the newly refurbished Skyline Gondola part way up the hillside, before embarking on a hike to the summit of Ben Lomond. After a week of blue skies and sunshine, there was something prophetic about the darkening skies blowing our way across the Southern Alps as we walked.
At risk of sounding like a broken record, the route up towards Ben Lomond quickly became a real personal highlight and felt quite different from our previous hikes. More than just being down to the stormy conditions, the entire hillside felt different. The hike began in tall, dark forested conditions before we emerged to brilliant views down and across Lake Wakatipu in one direction and up to the summit of Ben Lomond.
As we made our way up the mountain, the views in both directions were slowly consumed by wispy clouds that quickly solidified into thick rain clouds. Before long Ben Lomond summit had completely disappeared and we were reaching into our packs for rain jackets that had been carried, but unused for the entire week. With conditions worsening, all but one hardy soul in the group decided to turn around at the saddle.
Rain lashed down as we trudged down the mountainside back to the gondola, soggy, but satisfied that we’d had a dramatic and exciting end to our week (but also looking forward to it being over and returning to hot showers at our hotels).
I hadn’t been to New Zealand for more than 10 years, and after a week enjoying the best of the Southern Alps, I won’t be leaving it another 10 before a return visit. It’s bold to claim that a trip offers the best of an area, but it’s hard to imagine how our group could have had a better time on the trails and that can lead into a big thank you to our Adventure South NZ guides for making the trip special and sharing the area’s beauty and history with us.
Fact file
The trek: Adventure South NZ runs the Best of the Southern Alps trip. The company offers a number of hiking and cycling trips in New Zealand, from short to multi-day.
Getting there: Air New Zealand and Qantas fly daily to NZ from most Australian capital cities.
More info: For all things New Zealand, check out Tourism New Zealand
Thanks: Mattie was a guest of Adventure South NZ, with further thanks to Tourism New Zealand.
