Next up on our travel around New Zealand was visiting Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park where we made arrangements to take a boat tour to the Tasman Glacial Lake.

The tour with Glacier Explorers allowed us to get out on the lake in a small boat of just 8 passengers, weaving around massive icebergs and we were also able to fish out small bits of the crystals to feel just how dense and heavy even small pieces could be.

A stroke of (bad) luck

The tour lasted for just over an hour but long enough to see the different areas of the lake and icebergs, which was what we expected and paid for but then spotted a rare event when a kayaker’s boat started taking on water and he wound up in the freezing cold lake. I spotted him first asking Jason if his arm waving looked odd and he alerted the guide that the person might be in distress. Our guide then called for back up and cruised over to assist.

The temp of the water was about 37.4 degrees fahrenheit so after 5 mins he would have started to go into hypothermia if no one was there to assist. The crazy part of that story was that during our safety briefing she mentioned that no one had ever fallen in the water before unintentionally.

Our guide also mentioned that with the extreme effects of climate change rapidly approaching, the Tasman Glacier is melting and breaking at rapid rate and may not be around in years to come. If you have the chance to get out and see the glaciers, do it while they are still around.

After the boat cruise, I somehow managed to talk Jason into hiking the Hooker Valley Track while we were in the Mount Cook area. After grabbing a bite to eat we set out to hike 6.2 miles, 3+hour trail. This is a very popular trail due to its location and relatively “easy” track status and 3 suspension bridges. Despite being very busy, the views were amazing and worth the time, sweat and blisters.

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