Hooker Valley Track: No Experience? No Worries.

Don’t know your DOCs from your hiking boots? No worries. The Hooker Valley Track is one of NZ’s easiest and most stunning hikes—ideal for tourists, first-time trampers and your mums! We take our mums, aged in their 60's and 70's on a South Island adventure and give them a taste of their first ever hiking experience. The popular track has well-maintained paths, easy gradients, and a few swing bridges for a bit fun. The views of Aoraki/Mt Cook are magical and at only 10km still provides a bit of a challenge for our mums first hiking experience, without killing them.

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Track: Hooker Valley Track

Time of Year: November 2024

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We have been taking our two mums on a South Island adventure and are pushing them out of their comfort zone today on their first ever hike. We have stayed in Tekapo for the night and have an early start to make the 1hr drive to the Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park to hike the Hooker Valley Track. The track is an easy 10km hike into the Hooker Valley with spectacular views of the Alps, glaciers, and Aoraki/Mt Cook. Aoraki translates to 'cloud piercer' and is the highest mountain in NZ. It sits within the Southern Alps, a mountainous range that runs the entire length of the South Island.

Reviews have mentioned that the track and carpark get busy with advice to arrive early (before 9:30am) if you want to score a parking spot. As everyone starts to drag their luggage into the lounge I look down and notice my mum's footwear for the first time. She has decided to wear pure white golfing shoes for the hike. Jules' mum is wearing hiking boots, and it seems my mum has completely missed the brief. Mum sees my puzzled expression and assures me they are super comfortable and well-worn in, albeit on a golf course. I have been checking the Plan My Walk app over the last few days and although there was snow on the track recently, the wild weather that had shut the track, has now passed. I figured any snow would have melted by now and although I anticipate these shoes may not stay very white, she should be fine. I check the rest of her attire just in case and she has sensibly got a puffer jacket, beanie, gloves, and has left the golf balls at home. It's November but the temps are pretty cold, and it will get colder as we make our way further into the National Park.

We arrive at the car park after a beautiful drive around Lake Pukaki. There are tons of campervans everywhere with tourists who have camped the night emerging out of their vehicles, bleary eyed, and in pajamas. I'm glad we arrived early this morning before the track gets crowded. We start to head off and Mum and I are slightly ahead. We notice a small turn off to a memorial that honors the mountaineers who have died while climbing the area's peaks and we take a quick little detour. Jules and her mum don't see us turning off and push on ahead.

The track is predominantly flat, wide, and really well maintained and is perfect for our mums. As we wind into the valley, we come to the Mueller Lake lookout and get an idea of where we are headed. We descend a heap of stairs, and I watch my mum like a hawk as I notice she is a bit unsteady without a railing for support. We come to the first of three swing bridges which crosses over an icy river which is moving swiftly. At the time of writing this, the Hooker Valley Track is now closed after this first swing bridge as the second bridge requires remedial work due to erosion. But the Department of Conservation (DOC) hope to re-open it again in a year. It is still worth going in as there are views from every angle.

We haven't travelled very far but the scenery is epic and it's nice that there is an easy and accessible walk into the park for everyone to enjoy this. For the more fit and experienced hikers, there are more challenging hikes which begin from the car park and Jules and I make a plan to come back (sans mums) to attempt the Mueller Hut Route.

After the bridge, the track becomes a bit more undulating. Eventually as we round the corner, we get our first good gander at Aoraki/Mt Cook as the clouds begin to part. And she's a beauty. You feel dwarfed by the scale of such monstrous mountains that surround you and it always feels so humbling hiking through such magnificent places.

The water is an icy blue colour and is freezing as the snow melts from the mountains above. My mum asks 'how much further?' which sounds alarm bells as we are not even halfway to Hooker Valley Lake, which is the midway point before we backtrack. I get her to sit on a flat rock for a rest and handover my water bottle as I've noticed she hasn't been drinking much, and she chugs it back. There is a bottle on the side of her bag but it is either empty or for decorative purposes only. For the rest of the walk, I keep handing her my bottle and I'm surprised that she smashes it each time. I pull out a muesli bar when I see her produce a bag of lollies and motion for her to chow it down instead for energy. I have learnt to come over prepared for day hikes with plenty of water and lots of snacks. Me and Jules accidentally ending up on an advanced hike in the Coromandel, with only half a bottle of water and handful of nuts. Never again. That will teach us for following a pencil drawn map left at the Air BnB.

I check my phone and have a txt from Jules wondering where we are and I reply we are actually behind them now and can see them up ahead crossing the second swing bridge. Once my mum is ready, we head off again and cross the swing bridge and catch up to the others who stopped to wait.

We find out that the mums had been walking faster to try and catch up to each other thinking they were both lagging behind and as a result both are getting knackered. Me and Jules have a laugh, remind them to go at their own pace and settle into a slower stroll for the remainder of the walk. Thankfully there is a toilet halfway along the track with a long stretch of boardwalk starting just after. The boardwalk is just wide enough for 2 people to pass if one person turns sideways.

The track is still relatively quiet, and we are getting close to the lake with one little climb to go. The mums are looking ready for a well-deserved break, and it has taken us just over an hour to arrive. As we make the last push over the hill the grey glacial lake and Aoraki fills the view and it's a stunning place for lunch. We chow down our sammies and quickly put our jackets on as we have started to cool quickly. Sometimes the lake is filled with icebergs but with summer looming these have all but melted.

I love how you don't have to go hours into NZ's backcountry to see such spectacular scenery. More and more people start arriving over the next half hour and the track is getting noticeably busier with lots of hikers. Once the mums are well rested, we start the return trip.

On the way back we hear a thunderous echo through the valley that stops us in our tracks. A ton of ice slid off a mountain and crashed hundreds of meters down, reverberating through the valley floor. No doubt with summer on its way, avalanches are a regular occurrence around here.

We have made the last of the swing bridges and then just have to climb the last bunch of steepish stairs. Both mums dig in and we give them some words of encouragement as they huff and puff to the top. Jules' mum says she has a lot more respect for our multi-day hiking trips now that she has completed her first hike and both mums are chuffed, they have completed the 10km.

It's time for a hot cup of tea and we start the drive towards Twizel in search of one. The backseat of the car has become very quiet, and it hasn't taken long for both mums to drop off to sleep. I've secretly booked us into the Omarama hot pools for the afternoon so hopefully that will help to melt away any aches and pains they might have after their first hiking adventure.