The tallest mountain in New Zealand is Mt. Cook (its Maori name is Aoraki), at over 12,000 feet. There are a number of fine (though often steep!) day hikes in the vicinity of Mt. Cook Village that have views of the mountain when the weather is clear (it's often not; we were lucky, except that we were there in a heat wave!). This is from the Sealy Tarns trail. In the valley in this picture, you can see the Hooker Glacier (it's a very dirty glacier, as are many in this area) just beyond Hooker Lake.