South Island Attractions

Venue: Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park    When: Daily

The Mt Cook National Park - also known by its Maori name Aoraki - encompasses 700 square kilometres of the South Island's most dramatic landscapes. Twenty-two of New Zealand's 27 mountains above 3050 metres are found here, including the highest mountain in Australasia, Mt Cook itself, at a majestic 3755 metres.

Although best-known by its western name, commemorating the great Pacific explorer, Captain James Cook, the Ngâi Tahu people believed the mountains were their ancestors, with Aoraki the most sacred of all. The clash of cultures is best illustrated by the fact the Maoris believe hiking on the mountains means you are literally climbing on the face of an ancestor. The park forms part of Te Waipounamu - the South Westland World Heritage Area - in recognition of its outstanding natural values.

Intriguingly there are hardly any forests in the park, but it is full of Alpine flora, including - in the summer - the Mount Cook buttercup, huge mountain daises and the more dangerous wild Spaniard, or spear grass. Down in the Tasman riverbed is the habitat of one of the country's rarest birds, the kakî or black stilt.

Aoraki Mt Cook Village has ten short or day walks into the main valleys, the most popular being to Kea Point and the Hooker Valley, and there are a further three Alpine routes over the Mueller, Copland and Ball Passes. There are 17 huts in the park, but these are for mountaineering use and proper climbing experience is required to reach them. As ever on high mountain slopes, visitors should be fully prepared.

It is also possible to take scenic flights by helicopter, as well as to ski, including (for those of intermediate experience) down the Tasman Glacier.