Mueller Hut

Despite the bad weather Harvey and Lindsay drove to Mount Cook village. Aoraki / Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand. Its height, as of 2014, is listed as 3,724 metres (12,218 feet). In December 1991, Aoraki Mount Cook was 3764 metres high. A few minutes later, a massive rock avalanche, at maximum rumble creating a magnitude 3.9 earthquake, had lowered New Zealand's highest point. First hike was to Mueller Hut. Our visibility was crap and it was drizzling the whole time, but we made it. The little bit of views we did have were great though. The hike started with 1,767 stairs, then straight up through some boulder fields. This was a tough one!! We even saw some Kea. Kea are large alpine parrot - the only true alpine parrot in the world. Wild kea exist only in the South Island of New Zealand in and around the alpine areas. Kea are listed as an endangered species. Hike stats: 9.2km (5.6mi), 129.9m (3,379ft), 4:40 total time (4:28 moving time).