Lake Tepako to Mount Cook

Thursday, 22 October 2025

It was a wet and windy night and there was no improvement by this morning. In fact, it was much worse, with some thunder and lightning thrown into the mix. At check-in yesterday we learnt that breakfast is included here, so at 8.30am we headed down to the reception lobby/breakfast room. Hmmn, I actually would have been just as happy to eat our own breakfast stuff as what was on offer here. Although Bernie did take the opportunity to tuck into some bacon and eggs.

We hadn’t found anything on the internet to say that Mount Cook Road was closed, so packed the car in the rain to retrace our route from yesterday. What a difference a day makes! Yesterday we were treated to lovely views of the turquoise lakes and snow topped mountains, today we could barely see the dull, grey lake and we couldn’t tell their was a mountainous backdrop.

We made a brief stop at the end of Lake Pūkaki at the Mount Cook Alpine Salmon shop. We purchased some smoked salmon and a zesty salmon dip to make our lunches for the next couple of days. We asked one of the sales staff if the Mount Cook Road was open and he said – Yes. He told us he was up there last night and the road was fine and, in his opinion, the wind is not as bad this morning as it was last night.

Just a short distance from the shop, we turned onto Mount Cook Road with the information board confirming that the status of the road was OPEN. Mind you, today Mount Cook Road was like the road of a thousand waterfalls with run off teaming down from the mountains bordering the lake. In places the run off was concentrated in roiling streams/rivers of churning, mud-filled water.

We reached the Glentanner Park Centre and Glentanner Aerodrome. Shortly after this we arrived at Glentanner Stream, where we pulled up behind a 4×4 to look at muddy brown water coursing across the road. The driver of the 4×4 executed a three point turn and pulled alongside us. The driver told us that she wasn’t going to risk driving through the water and a coffee at Glentanner seemed like a good idea. We also turned around and pulled into a parking/turning area at the side of the road to wait for a while to see if the rain eased.

Quite a few small sedans and a couple of motorhomes were waiting and watching with us. We’d only been there a short while when a Suzuki Swift drove through the water from up the mountain and pulled in where everyone was waiting. Bernie pulled over beside him and quizzed him on the water crossing. Fine, the driver said and estimated the depth at about eight centimetres. Maybe a slightly dodgy estimate as he was an American trying to convert to centimetres?? He added that there was more water across the road about a kilometre further on, but not as much as here, and that further up the road it was the wind that was more concerning. Very strong wind.

Bernie decided if the Suzuki Swift could do it, the Ford Focus could. Bernie entered the water and … we made it across without being washed off the road. No-one else followed us! We safely negotiated the second patch of water and continued towards Mount Cook Village. We reached the head of the lake and now found ourselves driving alongside the Tasman Delta where the braided channels of the Tasman River meander their way to the lake. This broad, flat valley was where the wind kicked in. So windy that it was raining horizontally! Anyone in a motorhome would be struggling.

Although we had been told that all the water over the road was around Glentanner Creek, we found that when we reached Sawyers Creek the water had risen there too. Fortunately, it was only a little bit over the road and we were able to make our way through that section too. Approaching Mount Cook Village, we saw two works vehicles heading the other way. We suspected that they might be heading out to review the road conditions and potentially close the road when they reached the turnoff at Pūkaki?? We later confirmed that the road was closed after we made it through.

There was some confusion finding our accommodation. Initially we pulled up at the Aoraki/Mount Cook Alpine Lodge, where we were redirected to the Mount Cook Lodge & Motels. We arrived before noon so, unfortunately, our room was not ready. The staff suggested that we head over to the Hermitage Hotel and visit the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre and grab some lunch in the café. With the weather so dreadful there really wasn’t any other option. We certainly weren’t going to head off on a hike in the pouring rain and howling wind!

After filling in a couple of hours in the museum and café, we were finally able to check into our room. Better still, the room comes with a large verandah/small car port. Bernie was able to back the car in so that it was (mostly) undercover to transfer our gear from the car to the room. That was very handy. We cranked up the heater and spent the rest of the afternoon in our room watching Steven Seagal movies on the Sky Movies Action channel. Bernie switched the TV on part way through Under Seige and then we watched Under Seige 2. As you do, on a rainy afternoon.

We drove over to the Chamois Bar & Grill in the lodge’s main building for dinner because … it’s STILL raining. I’m sure when it’s fine there is probably a footpath between our room and the restaurant. Who knows, it might be fine enough to scout that out tomorrow?

Steps: 3,784 (2.49kms)