Early Adventures at Aoraki/Mt Cook
ountains have always captured the imagination of explorers, climbers, artists and photographers. New Zealand’s tallest mountain Aoraki 3724 metres (12,218 feet) is considered the most sacred of ancestors by Ngāi Tahu, the main iwi (tribe) of the southern region. According to Māori legend, Aoraki and his three brothers were the sons of Rakinui the Sky Father. The boys left the heavens in a powerful waka to visit Papatūānuku (Earth Mother), voyaging in the dark empty southern
