If you think Lake Pukaki looks unreal in photos, trust me it looks equally unreal in real life too! And your trip to the South Island would be incomplete if you didn’t visit Lake Pukaki, and by extension, Lake Tekapo too! Lake Pukaki is the largest of three roughly parallel alpine lakes running north–south along the northern edge of the Mackenzie Basin on New Zealand's South Island. The others are Lakes Tekapo and Ohau. Lake Pukaki is one of the jewels of New Zealand with its intense blue color.
The surrounding mountains and the snow covered Aoraki / Mount Cook summit are simply breathtaking. The area is a paradise for hikers.
There are many options for every fitness level: short 30min return walks, 3 hour non technical hikes or hikes for experienced hikers. The 2 most famous are the Tasman Glacier Walk and the Hooker Valley Track. They both take you to lookouts over glacier tongues.
The drive from Queenstown to Lake Pukaki is approximately 209 km and takes nearly 3 hours to complete. In my opinion, it is one of the more scenic drives on the South Island.
