Date night! (deb comment here…”Wait! What!? You never told ME it was a date night!”) We walked into town, along the trail through the sticky forest. We ended up at the Paradiso theater, where we saw the movie Green Book. A fun movie, as was the theater. The theater is filled with a variety of movie theater seats, couches, recliners, and even a couple of old cars. The movie stops half way, and they then serve dinner and snacks before finishing off the show.
Isthmus Peak and ridge trail
The Isthmus peak trail is a well marked, easy to follow trail with nice views. I went up to Isthmus peak, then continued along the ridge-line for another 7km or so. The part of the trail past Isthmus isn’t much different for views than the peak, but I had wanted to push myself a bit for distance and height. All together, it was a 27km hike with 1800 meters elevation gain. Feet survived just fine!
Colquhouns beach trail
We headed out on this quiet, well marked trail to Colquhouns beach. Once there Deb had a short dip, as we had the 1km long beach to ourselves. A quick lunch, then back on the trail as the sandflies were being difficult.
Glendhu Bay Hike
Deb decided to do the Glendhu bay track, while I took the day off to work on taxes. I dropped her off about 13km outside town, then she walked back in along the track and had coffee and a snack before calling for me to pick her up. She saw #thatWanakatree famous from Instagram, but took her own tree photo that you can see at the very top of the post.
Fern Burn track
The Fern Burn hut has less elevation gain than some of the higher trails, but still has some nice views. We found this shedding tree along the route.
This shows what the trails are commonly like- careful footing is required, but the tree roots and rocks provide good steps. Hiking poles definitely make it easier.
Diamond Lake track
The diamond lake track is quite popular, and for good reason. For a relatively easy hike, it has a variety of nice views.
Breast Hill loop track
The Breast hill loop is a challenge, about 24km and 1700 meters elevation gain on the route I took. The “loop” portion of the trail isn’t the best part of the trail- just take the main trail to Breast hill for some wonderful views.
If you look closely at the trees at the far left side at the lake edge, about half way up the photo, you might see where our car is parked!
Roys Peak, Skyline Route Wanaka
I hiked about 3/4 the way up Roys Peak the last time we were in New Zealand in 2009. I was trying to get as high as possible before a big storm rolled in. It was a beautiful hike, and I was looking forward to going to the top this trip. Imagine my surprise when I found out it had become Instagram famous. Last time I was the only person on the trail, which was then just a small footpath. Now, about 400 people a day hike the same trail. I was told at the Department of Conservation office that a number of people sleep overnight at the peak in order to catch the sunrise. Since I didn’t really want to hike with the crowds, I decided to start an early hike, and see how far up I could get before sunrise. I set an early alarm, and Deb was nice enough to drive me to the trail head. I started hiking at just after 5am, and got to the top (1200 meters gain) in 2:15, just in time for sunrise. There were about 40 people already on the peak when I got there, although I only saw a few others on the hike up. Everyone was crowded on the main peak- while a couple hundred meters down the trail is a secondary hill that was nice and quiet. So if you want solitude during sunrise, look for the second peak.
Roys Peak 2009
If you want to see what the trail looks like during the day- and springtime- here’s a pic from our 2009 trip.
Roys Peak to Mount Alpha
I had planned on continuing to Mount Alpha, and then do the skyline trail. It seems that most everyone does Roys peak only, as I didn’t see another soul on the rest of the hike. Seeing the skyline as the sun came up was very nice.
Near the top of Alpha peak.
Rob Roy Glacier Track
This hike is a bit of drive outside of Wanaka, about an hour and a quarter. It was one of our favorites from our 2009 visit, though. Last time through, we had a small bridge that was out, and had to ford a somewhat deep stream. We made a deal with a Spanish couple in a camper van that was trying to get to the glacier- we’d give them a ride in our car, as long as they helped us push if we got stuck! We made it fine in 2009, and the same was true in 2019. This time through, we still had to cross several streams, but nothing deeper than about 150mm. Did have to watch out for sheep, though.
Rob Roy Glacier 2009
Since we had hiked this trail 9 nears ago, I didn’t take as many pictures. So I’m cheating here, and the picture above is from our previous trip. This is taken along the gravel road that leads to the start of the trail. The sheep and cows here certainly have a wonderful view!
The hike is a relatively easy one, about 12km and 450m elevation gain. The trail crosses the river on a suspension bridge, then leads to a tall narrow waterfall, and shortly after the mountain and glacier appear. Bring your wide angle lens, it’s hard to take it all in!
Our rental in Wanaka was wonderful. It sits on the North side of town near the sticky forest. The one bedroom apartment was ultra modern, and comfortable. Here’s Tim fixing supper- baked potatoes, carrots and parsnips with chicken breast.
