New Zealand day 3: Hiking in Tasman valley

The agenda of the day in Mt. Cook was kept open. There were many hiking options and after enquiring in the hotel we chose the trek in Tasman valley. The trek was moderate and promised greats views on the way.

The weather forecast predicted overcast conditions but rains were not expected. It was drizzling when we started walking from the parking lot of Tasman valley. We first chose to see the Tasman glacier, the longest glacier in New Zealand.

The hiking path though steep was well laid. We walked with lot of enthusiasm. With lot of views on the way, the walk was quite refreshing. At midway, we were greeted with the view of blue lake. The lake looked green and it was because of rain water!!

The last stretch was steep and it required some boosting for Tanu to climb up. But once we reached the top, we were mesmerized by Lake Tasman.

The mist had completely engulfed the glacier and we could barely see the lake. The wind was blowing hard but we stood there for a long time savoring the beauty of the place. The view of the valley we came from looked stunning.

The Tasman lake is a new entry to this place!! The glacier had covered the place till 1970!!

While climbing down we took the detour to the blue lake. I went further to look at another lake which was equally beautiful.

Another detour was taken to go to the Tasman river. This was a longer walk but on a plain land.

By the time we reached the jetty point, the weather had cleared a bit and the glacier wall was visible.

There was an option of boat ride that took people close to the glacier. Since we had better plans for the glacier later in our trip, we chose not to go for boat ride.

We were at the end of summer but still few icebergs were floating around!!

A rocky area indeed!!

The first half of the day was well spent. It was time to get back to the hotel for lunch.