4 minute read
New Zealand Walk: Hooker Valley Track offers awe
Avery popular walk with both kiwis and overseas folk is the Hooker Valley Track, located in the Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park in the Canterbury region.
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Once there one can enjoy the aweinspiring landscapes of the Southern Alps/Kā Tiritiri o te Moana on one of New Zealands’s best day hikes - wind up the Hooker Valley past alpine streams and glaciers in the shadow of Aoraki/Mount Cook.
There are views of Mueller Glacier, Hooker Lake and Aoraki/Mount Cook, as well as the Mount Cook buttercup, the world’s biggest buttercup.
The track leads through the sacred Tōpuni area of the Hooker Valley, which has special significance and values to Ngāi Tahu iwi, towards Aoraki/Mount Cook.
From the first of three swing bridges along the way, enjoy the views over the Mueller Lake and listen for the rumbling of avalanches from the distant Mount Sefton. You may be able to spot them before they crash into the Mueller Glacier below.
After crossing the Hooker River, the track goes between old moraine ridges and humps.
From the second swing bridge,
the vegetation changes to more open tussock and a wider valley floor.
The second swingbridge may close in high winds
The second swing bridge may be closed during winds in excess of 80 k/hr and in significant flood events.
The second swing bridge in the
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Available for sale/hire Farm Safe and OSH are now pushing for all farmers who work on their own to have one of these in their safety kit
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$30 for every week after your first week of hire Above: Looking back at the Hooker Valley carpark. Right: Mt Cook. Below right: The well formed track. Opposite page left: A couple walk through an arch on the track.
Above: During the holiday season the track can be busy. Below middle: Trees form an arch over the track. Below: One of the three bridges on the walk. Hooker Valley was severely damaged during a storm in March 2019. There is erosion on both sides of the bridge which affects its structural integrity during high winds. Engineers have determined the bridge is completely safe when not affected by strong winds and flood events.
A third swing bridge then leads to the East Hooker and the source of the Hooker River.
The track ends with an amazing view over the iceberg-speckled Hooker Lake and up to majestic Aoraki/Mount Cook and the Southern Alps/Kā Tiritiri o te Moana.
The track at dawn gives you a view of the first rays of the sun creeping over the Southern Alps, including over New Zealand’s highest peak, Aoraki/Mount Cook.
Fact file
Getting there: The nearest towns are Aoraki Mt Cook village (2 km), Tekapo (96 km) and Twizel (56 km).
The track starts at the White Horse Hill Campground and car park at the end of Hooker Valley Road, 2km from the Hermitage.
Track length: 10 km return via same track
Fitness required: Low
Gradient: Flat
Time: Allow Three hours return
Track grade Easy: Walking track
Dog access: No dogs allowed.
