We arrived near Mt Cook village late in the evening after the long drive from the Otago Peninsular. We parked up at a nearby DOC campsite and the only good thing that could be said about the site was that it was free. With an early rise we were able get to the Mt Cook Village early in the day to start exploring the foothills.

Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand, reaching a height of 3754 metres and from the first moment that we saw the mountain range and the absolutely stunning scenery it was clear that we were in a very special place. Aoraki/Mount Cook is also New Zealand's great alpine park. It has the highest mountains and the largest glaciers. During our stay we felt dwarfed by the immensity of the landscape that surrounded us.

Our first trek of the day was the 3 km to the Tasman Glacier View. The trek involves a short detour to the not so aptly named Blue Lakes which are now more like green puddles. The highlight of the trek are the icebergs that float on the lake created by the Tasman Glacier some of which are thousands of years old. It was remarkable seeing icebergs in a temperate climate and at altitude, a sight neither of us imagined we would see when planning our trip.

After completing our first trek we immediately moved onto the 6 km Kea Point trek. We didn't see any Keas (a small parrot-looking bird) but we did get magnificent views of both Mt Cook and Mt Sefton. Mt Sefton is an isolated peak, measuring 3151m and towering high above the Mount Cook Village. It is one of New Zealand's premier wilderness climbs, not that we were planning to do any technical mountain climbing! At the end of the trek we were greeted with a fantastic view of the Mueller Glacier.

After a strenuous day we had a good night's sleep at the DOC campsite which is situated just under the magnificent alpine scenery of Mt Sefton. We certainly were not distracted by the nightlife in Mt Cook Village which is non-existent.

Next morning we woke up early to do the Hooker Valley Track which is 8km return. We were up so early in fact that even though we had a full breakfast (cooked by Craig) we were still second on the track. We walked past the sobering alpine memorial which tells the tales of mountaineers who have died whilst attempting ascents of mountains within the range. The track provides some fantastic views of Mt Sefton and crosses two very wobbly and precarious swing bridges. At the end of the Hooker Valley Track lies Hooker Lake which holds more icebergs and the Hooker Glacier.

We finished the trek late in the morning jumped into the campervan and headed off to the Banks Peninsular near Christchurch.