Story: Mountains

Awesome peaks and volcanoes loomed large in Māori life and tradition, and have challenged climbers and inspired artists. The snowy, deeply incised Southern Alps and the Kaikōura ranges form the South Island’s backbone – a mountain axis that continues in the North Island. Many of these grand landscapes are now protected in national parks.

Story by Andy Dennis
Main image: Mt Owen, north-west South Island

Story summary

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South Island mountains

Most of New Zealand’s mountains are in the South Island. The 23 peaks over 3,000 metres high are all in the Southern Alps, which stretch for 500 kilometres down the South Island. This is a breathtaking landscape of towering peaks, ice, snow and huge glaciers such as Franz Josef and Fox.

The country’s highest mountain is Aoraki/Mt Cook, which is 3,724 metres high.

In the far south, the Fiordland ranges have steep-sided valleys plunging down to deep, narrow fiords.

North Island mountains

Volcanoes

The best-known mountains in the North Island are all volcanoes. The three highest are:

  • Mt Ruapehu – 2,797 metres
  • Taranaki (Mt Egmont) – 2,518 metres
  • Mt Ngāuruhoe – 2,287 metres.

Quite often, ash is erupted from Mt Ruapehu and Mt Ngāuruhoe. Ruapehu’s most recent eruption was in 1995–96. The biggest eruption in the last 200 years was of Mt Tarawera, near Rotorua, in 1886. Over 100 people died.

Other mountains

A long chain of mountains runs through the North Island, from Wellington to East Cape. It includes the Tararua and Kaimanawa ranges.

How mountains form

Several processes slowly produce mountains, including:

  • tectonic plates – when they collide they push up the land
  • erosion – rainfall wears away rocks, forming scree slopes
  • glaciers – as they move they carve steep slopes in the rocks.

Plants

The lower mountain slopes are covered in native forest. Above this are shrubs, and then tussock grasses. Still higher, in the alpine zone, are cushion plants or herbfields. Many of these plants have white and yellow flowers.

Animals

Native species living in the mountains include:

  • the lively South Island kea, the world’s only mountain parrot
  • two giant wētā (grasshopper-like insects)
  • the world’s only alpine cicadas.

Mountains in New Zealand culture

In Māori tradition, mountains are places of great awe. Many tribes have a sacred mountain that is important to their identity.

Snowy landscapes have often featured in New Zealand paintings and photographs. Poets have written about the atmosphere of the mountains.

Recreation

In the 1880s, climbers began to tackle the highest mountains. Ruapehu was first climbed in 1886.

The first ascent of Aoraki/Mt Cook was on Christmas Day 1894. Today, about 500,000 people visit the mountain each year.

There are many walking tracks and huts in the mountains, and you can go hunting, fishing, kayaking and mountain biking.

How to cite this page:

Andy Dennis, 'Mountains', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/mountains (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Andy Dennis, published 24 September 2007, updated 1 February 2017