Friday, 24 October 2025
Thank goodness we woke to weather that was a bit of an improvement on yesterday. We had actual sunshine outside one side of our cabin/room with cloud out the other. At least it was only cloud, it wasn’t raining. Yay!
After breakfast we drove over to the DOC Camping Ground, which has a large parking area serving the trail head for walks to Hooker Valley, Kea Point, Sealy Tarns and Mueller Hut. We set out first on the Hooker Vally trail, knowing that it is currently closed at some point between the first and second swing bridges, because they are replacing the second bridge, with work not expected to be completed until Autumn 2026.
We arrived at the Mueller Lake Lookout and just about had to elbow our way in past all the photographers and their muses. Honestly, there was more posing going on than at Melbourne Fashion Week!! After the rain yesterday, perhaps just at this time of the year(?) Lake Mueller was a milky, grey colour rather than an amazing turquoise. I think more sun is needed for it to look turquoise? We photographed it anyway, despite it’s generally gloomy appearance.
Continuing along the trail, we crossed the first suspension bridge across the Hooker River, which was flowing swiftly with milky, grey water. This trail is popular because it leads up the Hooker Valley towards Aoraki/Mount Cook, but this morning there was too much cloud around the peak. I think also that when we reached the barrier to the Construction Zone (just past the Kakīroa/Mount Sefton Lookout), we were still behind Mount Wakefield, and had not reached the section of the walk with the best potential views of Mount Cook … on a clear day!
We walked back to the camping ground where we made use of the facilities, before heading off on the Kea Point trail. With the Hooker Valley Trail significantly reduced in length (currently just over 4Ks, instead of the usual 10Ks) we decided that we could do this second trail back-to-back before lunch! There may have been no rain today but it was still VERY WINDY.
So windy, that at one point, I was genuinely concerned about being blown off the track. I was standing on the trail, in a particularly windy spot, just trying to keep my feet on the ground, when a guy coming back from Kea Point was too busy looking at me trying to stay on the track, and the next thing he knew his hood and been blown off his head and his beanie tossed over the side, with him nearly behind it!! His partner didn’t want him to attempt the retrieval of his hat, but he managed to go after it and return to the track safely.
The other ‘thing’ going on with the weather this morning was that, although it wasn’t raining on us, the wind was blowing snow down off the mountains so we were sort of being snowed on. Combined with the wind, that was a bit stingy on the face. Luckily we had donned our Dart River neck/face thingies, so that helped to protect our faces. Honestly, why were we even out in these conditions?! Because we are here for one day only! And … it was a whole lot better than yesterday.
After ploughing our way along the path through the subalpine grasslands and scrub, we found ourselves at the Mueller Glacier moraine wall, with stunning views of Mount Sefton, Mueller Glacier Lake and Aoraki/Mount Cook … well, on a clear day. It was so, so, SO windy, that we did not spend more than a minute or two on the viewing deck! That ‘snow’ had turned to sleet.
We walked back to the campground and made our way to the car, before driving the short distance to our room for some lunch … and to spend some time out of the wind! Fortified with Ryvita, loaded with cream cheese and salmon (and, in my case, chocolate afterwards) we ventured out again. The weather had not improved on this morning, but neither had it deteriorated.
For this afternoon’s outing we took the Tasman Valley Road, drove over the Hooker River and alongside the Tasman River, before parking at the Blue Lakes Carpark to complete the Blue Lakes and Tasman Glacier View Trail. Ha! This is described as ‘easy with some steps’. Some steps??! There were A LOT of steps. Fortunately, they are very substantial, evenly spaced steps, so they are relatively easy to walk up and up … and up. Arriving at the view point on the moraine wall we could see the face of the very dirty Tasman Glacier, Tasman Lake and icebergs floating at the other end of the lake, where the Tasman River starts. Rather disappointingly, the glacier was nowhere near as pristine as others we have seen.
As we headed back down the steps, we took the turn off to venture in to the Blue Lakes, which are actually more sort of grey/green. When they were named in the mid-1800s, they were fed by turquoise glacial meltwater that filtered through the moraine. Today, the Tasman Glacier has retreated and now the lakes are filled with warmer rainwater that supports the growth of green algae making the Blue Lakes green.
I have to note that on each of the trails we walked today, we encountered runners. With the wind and the loose stones, not to mention the steepness, I thought it was challenging enough to walk these trails. While we were walking up and down the Blue Lakes & Tasman Glacier View Trail we had a guy who ran it at least five times!! He may have started before we arrived, so we have no idea if he ran it more than five times?
Returning to our room we drove from the Tasman Valley, where it was windy but fine, into the Hooker Valley where the weather was deteriorating rapidly. A good time to retire to our warm, dry room to record some memories from today before it is dinner time.
It was back to the Chamois Bar & Grill for dinner tonight. There are not many options here at Mount Cook Village. We could have tried the buffet at The Hermitage, but at $89.00/head we thought that was a bit too much and opted for the pub fare at the bar and grill.
Steps: 18,641 (11.68kms)
