2024 New Zealand: Sealy Tarn and Tasman Glacier Viewpoint

It didn’t rain very much but it was windy by the time we got up. The last time I was in Mt Cook National Park, I’d hike to Red Tarn Lakes in the limited time I had. It was rainy then and there were no views to be had. This time, we decided to try the Mueller Hut route, which was challenging, but being an out-and-back, meant that we could say, hike as far as the Sealy Tarns and then turn around if it was difficult. We would discover that most hikes in New Zealand seemed to be the “out and back” variety, rather than being loops.

Despite our starting early, the day warmed up pretty quickly. By the time we had gotten up 300 meters in elevation Bowen had used up most of his water. The views were fantastic, though, and we got a good look at the Mueller Lake, and later as we gained more elevation, Hooker Lake which we had hiked to the day before. We also got a great view of the Tasman River valley once we got out of the treeline, though once we were out of the trees the day warmed up even faster!

The steps cut into the trail were quite good, but by the time we got to the Sealy Tarns the kids were tired and refused to go any further. We made a deal with them, which was that we would turn around but they were obliged to visit Kea Point (a 15 minute sidetrip from the Mueller Hut trail), and after lunch we would visit the Tasman Glacier Overlook (also promised to be a short hike).

With that, we hiked back down and visited Kea Point, which overlooked the Mueller Lake. The day was beautiful, but when we tried to find a place to eat we discovered that the only place available was the Hermitage Hotel’s Café. Parking around the hotel was horrendous, so I let everyone off and parked the car separately in a parking lot that was much less obvious and didn’t take too much time to walk. Upon entering the hotel’s café, I noted that the Hermitage was a full service hotel, running not just dining and lodging, but also guided walks, night sky viewings, and many other services. No wonder it was so expensive and popular—it wasn’t even available for the nights we were in the area.

After lunch, we walked back to the car but I noticed that the DOC office was right there in the parking lot. I walked in and asked if we could check-in at the Queenstown DOC for the Kepler hike. The answer required them calling the Te Anau DOC office for an answer and it turned out that we had to go all the way to Te Anau to checkin, and but if we were running late we could make a phone call before the office closed. They noted that the office was closed on Christmas day so we had to check in the day before.

We drove to the Tasman Glacier View trailhead. As anticipated it was a short walk but it was quite windy though given how warm it was we were very comfortable. On the way up to the viewpoint, we spotted the Hermitage bus running a glacier tour by boat. There were also other services running helicopter or airplane sight-seeing tours, but we decided not to do any of those.

Just before we got to the viewpoint, we looked down and saw the Blue Lakes, which were now brown. An explanatory sign said that once upon the time, those lakes had been blue with glacier melt runoff, but the glacier had retreated so much now that the lakes were no longer glacier fed, and were now rain-fed, leading to algae bloom that now gave the lakes their brown color. Indeed, at the Tasman Glacier viewpoint we got a good look at how far the glacier had retreated over the years.

Sobered by this we returned to the car and drove back to Twizel where we filled up the gas tank and then had an early dinner at another Indian restaurant. We wouldn’t eat at another Indian restaurant for the rest of the trip—Indian restaurants in New Zealand appeared to be like Chinese restaurants in the USA—cheap quick fare but conforming to an expected taste that meant that you were getting a relatively bland experience.

After dinner, we went back to the Lodge to hang up our laundry, after which I saw a note on the table about not missing out and visiting Lake Ruataniwha. The rain stopped for a bit and we drove back out to see it. We visited the lake but it was a bit disappointing but on the way out we saw crepuscular beams in the area and shot a few photos.

We slept well that night, knowing that we had a long drive the next day to Te Anau.