Almost Made It: Sealy Tarns, NZ

Location: Aoraki/Mt. Cook National Park, Canterbury Region, South Island, New Zealand

Elevation: 3,976m (13,045ft) - the summit

Difficulty level: Advanced

Trail length: 5.8 (3.6mi) - the summit is 10.4km (6.46mi)

Elevation gain: 547m (1,795ft)

We only made it up the first two hours of this 1-2 day trek - we had some reasonably sore legs from completing the Liverpool Hut track the day before, and deep snow also stopped us from getting any more than half-way, so we turned around at the Sealy Tarns mark. But it is definitely on the list to be completed for future adventures "across the ditch" (the ocean between Australia & New Zealand). The views from half way up to the hut were already mind-boggling… and walking up to the Sealy Tarns is a great day walk if you're in the Mt Cook National Park area.)