Activity Summary
Saturday 4th February - Day 156 (continued)
Drive to Wanaka
Sunday 5th February - Day 157
Wanaka wash out day
Wanaka explore
Firebird takeaway
Monday 6th February - Day 158
Mt Aspiring National park drive through
Rob Roy Glacier Hike
Diamond Lake & Rocky Mountains loop
Tuesday 7th February - Day 159
Nicola: Roys Peak summit
Luke: Mt Alpha summit and skyline track via Roys Peak
Aitkens Folly winery
Summary
Wanaka
Some very nice walking around Wanaka although it didn’t feel all too varied. Had we had a more suitable car we would have been able to explore the glacier and Mt Aspiring National park area a bit more but that's all shoulda woulda coulda.
Wanaka itself is an alright town. Seems well off and well to do but very very small and the lake was not very inviting the entire time we were there due to rain and wind.
Accommodation
Wanaka - Wanaka Lakeview Holiday Park
Number of nights - 3
Price per night per person - £16
Alright campsite but we were happy to move on. The kitchens were a bit of a nightmare as they were so busy all the time and the communal area was not comfortable at all but we had it as a backup if needed.
The bathrooms were pretty grim and the campsite was full of kids, one of which Luke nearly hit with the car as the kid tore it round the corner on his bike without looking. Luke had stopped and was just watching him not lift his head with his hand on the horn. The kid decided to look just before it was too late.
The location was good however and the grass pitch was large and easy to use.
Diary
[Continued]
Once the wine touring was done we checked into our campsite, pitched up and attempted to relax in the TV room but it was pretty uncomfortable with the small leather chairs so we ended up spending our evening in the tent for the first time in a long time. There seemed to be little to no sandflies here thankfully.
It was not a good weather day so with that we had little planned. We went into Wanaka town for a wonder around which we managed to complete in about 15 minutes as the place is very small. Luke was feeling pretty tired so Nicola dropped him off at a cafe and she went and did some window shopping minus a tired sheep. Nicola returned with some manuka infused massage oil to replace our finished Bali stash and important requirement for trying to resolve our airbed initiated back issues we have been carrying for a long time.
Nicola eventually joined Luke at his cafe that had zero views of anything worthwhile and we took off back to the campsite. Cutting through one of the fields we stumbled across a lost iPhone so Nicola spent the next hour or so charging it up and trying to get some information from it in order to locate the owner. The do not disturb mode meant we would likely not be able to get to any calls and no emergency contacts were set up. Nicola then quite rightly lamented Luke for not having these basic requirements either and now he is all set up.
We spent the whole day in the tent; Nicola reading and watching TV while Luke set up a replacement office in the porch and worked through some irregularities in his finances spreadsheet which was killing him. It took him days to work out what it was but he was happy to get his brain working again for once.
Nicola had found a well rated fried chicken joint the night before but as we had leftovers managed to resist the urge. We weren’t on the same hype as we really felt like we hadn’t earnt it at all having done nothing but we eventually talked ourselves around. For £28 we got the biggest box of fried chicken, chips and sweetcorn fritas. The chicken lasted us 4 days and it was pretty dam good. Food like this tends to be too salty for Nicola however and did give her a headache as she again tried to avoid drinking water and the midnight piss it would trigger.
Most of the things Luke wanted to do in Wanaka was walking related so with only two days left a choice had to be made as to which walk would be done when. Roys Peak is the most popular in the area and the Rob Roy Glacier hike was another deep into the Mt Aspiring National Park.
The decision was to use the better day (Tuesday) for Roys Peak and try our luck with the Rob Roy Glacier track. Our research had said that this shouldn’t be done if it had been raining as to get to the start, 9 fords would have to be crossed and as such their levels could rise quite a lot. It was also down a lot of gravel road.
It had been raining a fair amount the day before. Chopper, the long and low wheel based family wagon, was in for a test. We already knew he didn’t like gravel roads.
It was a good hour / hour and half drive to the start of the track. At worst we would have to turn around but we would get a nice drive along the dead end road deep into Mt Aspiring National Park.
The drive was actually really nice. Once out of the standard dry rolling hills and lakes of Wanaka the surroundings returned to the green tree covered mountains we had come to know and love. As it was relatively cloudy we had glimpses of Mt Aspiring and the Rob Roy glacier along the drive. It made up for the long stretch of gravel road.
We then hit the first ford and warning signs. Nicola got out to read the board which stated that the first was apparently the worst. She then got into the water which was close to knee deep and then started throwing tyre busting rocks away. Luke was about to sack it off before a car behind rolled through with relative ease. This gave Luke some courage and then went on through.
The steam as the water hit the engine was pretty concerning but we didn’t flood the engine, cause any significant wakes or break down. The engine was definetely hitting a lot of water. Luke’s heart was properly racing.
We used the same method for the next 4 fords, constantly getting large 4x4s with great clearance trundling through with ease as we back up traffic. We eventually called it when it just got too stressful and the concern that if the engine was turned off, we would not be able to start it again and we had F all signal out in the middle of nowhere.
At least we had the views on the way in.
Turning around was a good idea and when we went around the houses on whether it was a good idea (Luke gets serious walking FOMO) we concluded we were absolute morons. Choppers clearance from the ground isn’t even halfway up our calves and the water was running high. Even if it hadn’t had rained the day before, such a low wheel based car shouldn’t be attempting this journey - reiterated on the way back when every single passing car was suitable. We were the exceptions and the fools.
Lesson learned.
To replace this walk we went back towards Wanaka and completed a day hike of the Diamond Lake & Rocky Mountains loop. It was pretty warm without shade for the most of it with a pretty narrow path that was a bit annoying trying to get past and let people go. Not the most fun walk and we sort of forgot to eat at a sensible time, which would have been before starting our walk, with the excitement of fordgate so Nicola bonked out pretty hard and we stopped for some emergency food at a not so scenic spot.
The top however was very nice. It had views of the Rob Roy Glacier (albeit much further away than where we were previously) and snippets of Mt Aspiring when there were breaks in the clouds. At the summit was an incredibly annoying American who would not shut the fuck up so we ended up descending and walking away far enough to get some peace and quiet so we could enjoy lake Wanaka, the mountains and eat the rest of our lunch.
We descended fairly quickly and returned back to the campsite to again chill in the tent with our kids' dinner of leftover chicken, chips and beans.
We had noted the day before that the Roys peak car park was small and absolutely heaving from 10am so if we were going to be able to park up it was clear we would need to set off fairly early. We made our way over for 8am which wasn’t ridiculous but meant we were eating breakfast in the car.
We then began the fairly long winding walk up the mountainside. As a backdrop is part of lake Wanaka and Wanaka itself but otherwise the view changes very little for 80% of the walk and is along very easy farm tracks. As far as walks go, this was incredibly tedious. It was a very windy day and at that time not particularly sunny but this made the uphill climb pretty comfortable.
The views got a lot better as we got higher, the mountains slowly opening up and views over some cool ridge lines that Luke sadly could not get to.
Once the boring part was done and the saddle reached, the views opened up over the whole of Wanaka. These were pretty similar to the Rocky Mountains the day before but on reflection (and post photo assessment) it really was pretty stunning.
Sadly however this is why everyone comes to Wanaka. Apparently, and Luke only found this out when at the saddle, this is a pretty famous Insta spot. The walk has a path that leads out from the mountainside and gives the impression one is running to lake Wanaka. So, because people are ridiculous, there was a queue for this spot. The family that was taking endless pictures and videos were running out 1 by 1 to get the same shots and it was taking an absolute age.
Luke was absolutely fuming the whole time. He hates queueing or waiting for pictures but the fact he had to do this up a mountain really took the biscuit. He would have happily just walked off but Nicola wanted to get the views so we waited for about 15 minutes before Luke angrily walked past the last family member to make the run.
It was alright. Literally nothing special. Social media is a joke.
The same incredibly annoying American woman who was at the Rocky Mountains the day prior also was waiting in this queue. She proceeded to say to her latest victim that she had come to NZ solely for this spot. This killed Luke inside - sure it's a nice spot but the whole of NZ for this? Sort your shit out lady, Mt Cook is so much better.
With Luke still seething, we carried on up the track and stopped at a similar point overlooking the lake and mountains about 5 minutes on. It offered better views and was completely quiet. Lovely stuff.
From this point it was a short walk up to the summit which offered very little in terms of game changing views. It was very windy up there, clouds had rolled over and it was pretty busy on the narrow rockface. We tried eating some lunch but got pretty cold so Nicola took off down the same track while Luke decided to extend his walk.
Luke story time:
On our way up we were greeted by a DOC sign saying that to Mt Alpha it was x number of hours. Two things contributed to my decision to do this track; 1) Roys Peak was too short a walk and 2) it was called Mt Alpha which was hilarious.
Once at Roys peak it was a reasonably safe ridgeline walk to Mt Alpha. It was very windy which made me have to be a bit careful when walking but fortunately the wind was blowing in the direction of a softer grass fall rather than the steep cliff face death side.
There was one incredibly sketchy bit where I had to scramble along a rock slip. Four points of contact, lean into the rock face and hope the wind does pick up as it was a pretty nasty fall should anything have gone wrong. Squeaky bum time.
Once at the Mt Alpha summit I had all the peace and quiet that was sorely missed at Roys Peak. It offered different views of Wanaka and the surrounding area and of course had the all important Mt Alpha sign. Until I get hands on the Badger trophy I will never be able to claim to be an alpha.
The rest of the walk wasn’t anything special. The first half of the descent when still pretty high was interesting but once coming down from the saddle down farm track the views dissipated. A similar walk to Roys Peak down one side of a mountain was steep and dull until having to cross a river. Pretty nice on the feet at that point.
The last part through fields and bogs was incredibly annoying and took a long time to navigate.
Enjoyed the extension but the walk down the otherside is not worth it for anyone not bothered about just walking for exercise.
Strava & AllTrails stats:
23.2km
1,560m gain
Highest point = 1,630m
Moving time = 5hr 23min
Elapsed time = 6hr 42min
Luke's story ends.
Nicola met Luke at the end of the walk, a short distance outside of Wanaka. Luke was keen to get a winery in to tick off the Wanaka region, and also top up with a bottle.
He initially selected what looked like a nice winery but it turned out to be by appointment only so ended up driving back on ourselves (Nicola made sure to berate him for this) and we stopped by Aitkens Folly winery.
There were already 3 Dutch people (mid 20’s) in there, quite nicely dressed as if taking the wine tasting to be a civilised affair. Then Luke rocks up after walking for 6 hours smelling a bit like cheese. Fortunately Nicola had brought him a spare T Shirt but he still looked a state. Worst thing about it was that the room was so small and intimate it felt a little awkward, especially with Nicola tucked away in the corner and not wanting to be involved.
Sampled were Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Rose and two Pinot Noirs. The wine was pretty standard Central Otago and nothing stood out massively although all was very drinkable. The Chardonnay was a lot more mellow using far less new oak, was enjoyable and the best on offer so Luke purchased his first bottle of Chardonnay of the trip. He would then consume that over the next 3 days with pleasure.
Nicola started getting a headache while at the tasting, and Luke had picked up on her discomfort so did his best to hurry the tasting along before heading back to the campsite.
As Nicola had a lie down Luke sorted out packing the car up and dinner.
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