Landscape, Wildlife, and Travel Photography
Wanaka and Mt Cook | New Zealand (Part 2)

Wanaka and Mt Cook | New Zealand (Part 2)

After Milford Sound, we continued north. Wanaka and Aoraki / Mount Cook couldn’t be more different, moving from the water and rainforest to a more arid, alpine environment. Both shared one similar trait, however, of deserving more time than we were able to give them.

Wanaka is a relaxed lakeside town best known for a single willow tree growing just offshore (more on that below). It’s one of New Zealand’s most photographed scenes, but its simple composition and distinctive lean make it easy to understand why.

From Wanaka, we made our way toward Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park. (Aoraki is the traditional Māori name, meaning “cloud piercer.” It is common in NZ for peaks to have dual names.) The drive alone is beautiful and, if I may, reminded us at times of our home state of Colorado. By the time we arrived, we were greeted with something that’s surprisingly rare in this part of New Zealand: several days of clear skies.

Over the next few days, we hiked near New Zealand’s highest peak and hoped to spot a Kea, the world’s only alpine parrot and an endemic species found only in New Zealand’s South Island.

Up to that point in the trip, we hadn’t seen a single Kea, and I had started to think we’d missed our chance. But then…early on our last morning, while waiting for sunrise at a lookout, I kept hearing an unfamiliar bird call nearby but couldn’t see where it was coming from. As the light slowly improved, I finally spotted one kea. Then another. And another. I think there were seven in total.

Kea are famously curious birds with a particular fondness for chewing on anything soft. In my case, that meant the foam grips on my trekking poles, which I’d conveniently left leaning against a nearby rock. Within minutes, they had claimed them as their own, tossing them around and happily taking bites out of the grips. I was especially thankful that my camera bag was still on my back. Fortunately, they stuck around long enough for there to be enough light for photographs. I figured it was the least they could do after chewing up my trekking poles.

All photos from March & April 2026. 

This is probably my favorite image of the trip. Not because it’s the best photo in many ways, but because I got a Kea, an iconic bird of NZ, combined with Mt Cook, an iconic mountain in NZ. I never thought that morning that I would get the two together – the weather alone sometimes prevents any view of Mt Cook and Keas, as we all know now, are mischievous.
A Kea. I could be wrong, but I think he was trying to act big and scare me away from my trekking poles again. 
The view I had gone to photograph at sunrise. It was sometime around this photo that the Keas attacked. 
The road to Mt Cook. Funny how so many iconic photos of mountains seem to have roads leading to them. 
That Wanaka Tree (#thatwanakatree). Few trees in the world may be as famous as this tree. Made famous by a NZ photographer years ago, whose photo won a National Geographic NZ photo competition. It soon became an inspiration for photographers around the country and then the world. The tree itself started as a tree trunk that was “planted” as part of a livestock fence. The cut tree had more life in it, apparently, and took root to thrive in the shallow water. 
Kayakers in Lake Wanaka.
Remarkable Mountains. No, really, they’re called the Remarkables. 

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