Another year, another Xmas and bugger me here we are back
in Queenstown. We were supposed to be walking the Kepler Track but for a number
of reasons this fell through and we ended with 10 days to kill and no plan of
action.
We flew down to Queenstown and spent the first night
there and then took the bus to Te Anau where we spent the next four nights staying
at the distinctly average Kiwi Lakeside Holiday Park. Truth be known the accommodation
was perfectly acceptable and reasonably priced but utterly devoid of character.
What the heck though, it’s only somewhere to sleep the night and a base to
explore a part of New Zealand that has character in spades.
We went on a couple of ½ day walks and effectively covered
the last section of the Kepler track as far as Moturau Hut. Shortish walks were
the order of the day as the weather was really scorching and certainly too hot
to walk much after midday. We did have one rainy day where we decided to do
something different and visited the local glow-worm caves which are a 30 minute
boat ride across Lake Te Anau. The boat journey and caves are well worth it,
but if you are into your glow-worms, not a patch on the North Island’s Waitomo
caves.
The three pictures below were all taken on the Kepler Track.
We found this nice little lake signposted just off the track.
Overlooking Lake Manapouri.
Shallow Bay.
We then took the bus back to Queenstown and stayed for
four nights at the Southern Laughter Sir Cedric hostel. Odd name but not a bad
hostel and really well located.
To give us a bit more flexibility we decided to hire a car.
The best thing about the car was that it had air conditioning which we really
came to appreciate as if we thought Te Anau was hot then Queenstown definitely turned
things up a notch or two and it really was a case of out of the frying pan and into
the fire. Given the weather, it was somewhat incongruous to see the odd patch
of snow still lingering up in the hills.
We visited Wanaka which was relaxed and chilled out and
probably much like Queenstown 20 years ago before it exploded into the big
brash tourist mecca that it is now.
Next on the list was a trip to the nearby Mt Aspiring National
Park. We decided to head to a place called Raspberry Creek where there looked
to be an interesting walk up to the Rob Roy glacier.
The road to Raspberry Creek started off as tarmac but then
turned to the gravel with the road surface gradually deteriorating. After a
while we came to a ford. I didn’t really like the look of the ford particularly
as we in a hire car and faced a big bill if the car was damaged but went across
anyway. Shortly after this the road became single lane and right on cue a dirty
great lorry came round the next bend. There was no way of getting around the
truck so we had no alternative but to reverse all the way back to and over the
ford. This was rather unnerving as I am rubbish at reversing and there were
some nice steep drops awaiting if I got it wrong. It turned out there was a
sign near the ford advising that there were a total of nine fords to cross
which were only suitable for 4-wheel drives and even then only in good
conditions. All in all it was rather fortuitous that the lorry came along.
This was taken near the ford and basically as far as we managed to get. The mountain is Mt Aspiring.
Ben Lomond (no not that one) is a high peak overlooking
Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu. This is a tough climb but one that I really
fancied giving a go, not least as the views from the top were purportedly
stunning. Neena is nowhere near as fit as me but decided to come along anyway.
To be honest I didn’t think she would get all that far but stunned me and I think
herself and made it all the way to the summit. Mind you she could barely walk
for the next couple of days, but still thought it was well worth the pain. And
yes, the views were indeed rather stunning.
The pictures below were taken on the climb up to Ben Lomond.
Walking up from Queenstown.
Looking up at Ben Lomond from a saddle. The track got a lot steeper from this point.
As we climbed above the saddle these mountains came into view.
Ditto.
At the top.
There is a bit of a Scottish theme going on here as we
also visited the rather lovely Glenorchy and the even more enchanting Kinloch.
Kinloch is a tiny village but had an absolutely terrific camp site at the edge
of Lake Wakatipu and is definitely on the list of things to do next time we are
down this way.
We drove to the Remarkables Ski Field which is about 40 minutes
from Queenstown. From here we walked uphill for an hour or so to Lake Alta. The
lake is in a fantastic setting and a great place for a spot of lunch and a muck
around in the patches of snow left over from winter. There are some demanding
hikes from here and on another day we would have given them a go, but we both
fancied an easy day after the rigours of Ben Lomond. So I walked and Neena
hobbled back to the car and then onto Queenstown and ice cream and latte
heaven.
The pictures below were all taken at Lake Alta.
PS If you somehow find yourself in Queenstown, assuming you
survive the numerous adventure activities on offer, head to Patagonia who do
amazingly good ice cream.
