Mount Cook. Nature miracle

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Mount Cook. Nature miracle

Wonders of nature

Mount Cook National Park (about 70 thousand hectares) occupies the highest part of the New Zealand Alps, on the South Island, Westland County and Canterbury. It was created in 1953. This section of the Southern Alps has 17 peaks with a height of about 3000 m, there are many glaciers (including the Tasmana Glacier, about 30 km long).

Mount Cook National Park

The main attraction of this park is Mount Cook (3764 m), which has a saddle-shaped peak and is covered with eternal snow. This is the largest peak in New Zealand. Maori, representatives of the indigenous population of New Zealand, call this peak Aoraki - Piercing Clouds.

Near Mount Cook, their sharp peaks of Mount Tasman (3498 m) and Dampier (3440 m) pierce the sky. They, like dozens of other peaks of the Southern Alps, are covered with eternal snow and glaciers. Nineteen peaks rise to a height of more than three thousand meters.

Cook and Tasman are some of the most popular names in New Zealand. The islands called New Zealand were settled by Polynesians in the 1642th-1769th centuries. The Dutchman Abel Janszoon Tasman discovered them in 1840 for Europeans. The first words spoken about New Zealand by a European were: "Great mountainous land." The Englishman James Cook explored the islands in the second half of the XNUMXth century and discovered them in XNUMX for the second time for Europeans and, following the secret instructions of the English Admiralty, declared New Zealand the possession of the English queen. The British began to settle New Zealand in XNUMX.

Surrounding the country's highest peak - Mount Cook - the landscape is formed mainly by glaciers. On the sides of Mount Cook are the Hooker (to the west) and Tasman (to the east) glaciers. The Tasman Glacier, named after the Dutch explorer, has been melting for 20 years. The Tasman River flowing from this glacier rushes first into the mountain valley, and then winds along the "channel" of rubble and sedimentary rocks and flows into Lake Pukaki. An icy river running from the Tasman Glacier between the Cook and Bruna ranges extends for 30 km and reaches a width of 2–3 km. It is no coincidence that it is very popular with tourists and skiers. New Zealanders claim that this is the longest ski slope in the world.

Hermitage - the country's most famous mountain resort and tourist base - is located at the foot of Mount Cook. New Zealand climbers love to visit here. They say that one of the famous modern climbers, the New Zealander Edmund Hillary, began to make his career in these parts (Hillary and Tensing were the first to climb Chomolungma in May 1953).

"One of the most interesting ascents I have made in the region of Mount Cook in the Southern Alps," wrote Hillary, "where gigantic, ice-covered peaks defy the art and skill of the climber."

However, Hillary in these mountains faced no less danger than in the Himalayas. Heavy downpours are not uncommon here, which grind and polish the surface of the glaciers, and this, of course, makes the already difficult climb to the top difficult.

Mount Cook is clearly visible from Hermitage. You can get closer to its top using a small telescope mounted on a pedestal next to the Hermitage Hotel. You can even take a flight on a light aircraft of a special airline that delivers tourists and skiers to the glaciers from a small airfield. You can even fly by plane around Mount Cook and other peaks.

However, not only snow and ice are a characteristic feature of Mount Cook. At an altitude of 900 m above sea level, edelweiss grows, low mountain slopes are covered with violets, forget-me-nots, and primrose. This area is characterized by forests, shrubs and alpine vegetation. Of the animals, chamois, Himalayan tahr and red deer are common, acclimatized here at the beginning of the XNUMXth century. Among the birds, the kea parrot and others are protected.

In general, the nature of New Zealand is unique: out of 1900 species of higher plants, 1455 species exist only in New Zealand. Over the past century and a half, the forest areas of the islands have decreased by 60 percent. The habitats of many endemic species of animals and plants were destroyed, many of them could not withstand the competition from the species introduced by Europeans. The first to realize that there was a strong impoverishment of nature, the natives - the Maori. Therefore, on their initiative, the first Tongariro National Park in the country was organized.

Westland National Park (1175 sq km) is connected to Mount Cook National Park. Here you can see the most beautiful pictures created by nature: mountains, glaciers, lakes, forests. In general, the climatic conditions of these places contribute to the formation of very large glaciers. The glaciers of the central part of the Southern Alps occupy more than a thousand square kilometers. The most famous of them are the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers. The glaciers of the western slopes of the New Zealand Alps descend from the mountains extremely low - up to 213 m above sea level. The Franz Josef Glacier is the record holder among them.

I. Zheleznova and I. Lebedev write: “The Franz Josef Glacier is famous for the fact that its silvery tongues slide down the slopes of mountains up to two hundred meters above sea level and go straight into the thicket of an evergreen forest. one glacier in the world.Here you can see an amazing picture: blocks of ice sparkling in the sun and very close by green trees covered with bright red flowers.Attraction of this mountainous region is the Hochstetter icefall.Starting high in the mountains, a kilometer-wide glacier somewhere in the middle on the way to the valley falls from a thousand-meter cliff. Sliding, a mass of ice breaks off on the crest of the cliff and collapses down.

The vegetation of this national park has been preserved almost intact.

Arthur Pass National Park (98,4 thousand hectares) is located in the central part of the South Island, on a mountain plateau. It was created in 1929 to protect highland vegetation and a huge waterfall.

The Maine Divide Ridge serves as a barrier to the prevailing northwesterly winds, which carry much moisture from the sea. This largely determined the diversity of vegetation and fauna of the park.

In the forests there are evergreen species, above there is a zone of alpine vegetation. In addition to the endemic avifauna, animal species that have become pests of local ecosystems are common here (the red deer, released in 1897 near the future park, quickly settled around the district).

On the territory of the park there are several base camps for rock climbers and climbers, who began to develop here since 1923, when a road passed through the park connecting the east and west coasts of the island. For twenty years, climbers and rock climbers have conquered all 35 mountain peaks of the park. The park is equally popular with skiers, and in summer - with tourists who want to take walks.

Now 15 national parks of the country are included in the system of specially protected territories (they also include reserves and forest parks). Thus, almost 14 percent of the country's area belongs to protected natural areas.

In 1952, the National Parks Act was passed. According to this document, the nature of the parks, objects of history and archeology are preserved in their natural state, areas are allocated within the parks where any construction is prohibited. Visitors are admitted to the park without restrictions and free of charge (the use of shelter huts, nature museums and car parks located in the administrative centers of the parks is free).

Four zones are distinguished in New Zealand national parks: scientific, wild untouched nature, natural environment, visitor services.

In the national parks of New Zealand, sports fishing (under licenses), skiing, sport climbing and mountaineering are allowed. Licensed hunting for some animals is allowed (red deer, wild boar, roe deer, mountain goat, opossum). The parks are located at a distance of 50-350 km from the main cities of the country and are open at any time of the year. However, the attendance of the parks is quite low, however, and there is no control over the number of visitors.

Eight New Zealand parks are located in the mountains, and only the Fiordland and Abel Tasman parks are located on the coasts. All parks have surprisingly rich vegetation and incredibly poor fauna, the oldest in the world.

Author: Yudina N.A.

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