The color of Lake Pūkaki
Lake Pūkaki is one of the biggest glacial lakes in South Island, NZ. Like the famous Lake Tekapo located to its east, Lake Pūkaki has the distinctive turquoise blue water which the color is from the “glacial flour”, the fine particles produced from rocks grind against each other in the glacier feeding the head water of the lake.
When you are heading to Mt. Cook from the road junction of State Highway 80, it will take around 20 minute to drive along its western shore, 30 km long, until you reach Tasman River where feeds the lake. There are several spots along the lake’s southern shore to look at this spectacular water and the surrounding mountains. But the most popular lookout is likely the Tapataia Mahaka / Peter’s Lookout on the lake’s western shore, a place hard to miss on the way toward Mt. Cook.
When we went to there for the first time in 2014, it was just a bare ground to park. Nowadays there have been driver ways, car park, public toilet and even benches and tables!
