Coloured by Jade

The wonders of the Routeburn include these emerald pools, colored by the nephrite jade that was so prized by the indigenous Maoris that they built the route centuries ago.
Photo © Peter Potterfield

Not a half day into the Routeburn Track, at a place called Key Summit, the peaks of Mount Aspiring National Park surround an open meadow set high on a rare “triple” continental divide. Here, three epic valleys—the Hollyford, the Eglington, and the Greenstone—drain into the Tasman Sea, the Foveaux Strait on the Southern Ocean, and the South Pacific Ocean. The landscape is astonishing, spiced with views into the Darran Range, where Hillary trained for Everest."