The home of walking in New Zealand
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010
mountain bike, dogs, QLDC
20min – 1km
Eely point is a popular, sheltered boating and picnicking area. From Wanaka town follow the lake shore to the right, past the marina, and on to Eely Point. Carrying on round the point for another five minutes takes you to Bremner Bay, a good family swimming spot.
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Thursday, June 10th, 2010
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Thursday, June 10th, 2010
Diamond Lake lookout, picnic, no dogs, no bikes
Rocky Mountain Summit Track return 3hrs – 7km
Follow the 4WD track from the carpark, climbing to the lake where the circuit track is marked. Another track winds up to a lookout above Diamond Lake. Beyond here, there’s a choice of the Lake Wanaka Lookout, off to the right or to Rocky Mountain’s 775-metre summit via a loop track. Spectacular views include Lake Wanaka and a skyline dominated by the surrounding peaks. The distinct shape of Mt Aspiring/Tititea lies to the west.
Not recommended during winter months due to icy conditions.
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Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
Skyline Route tramp, no bikes, no dogs
10-11hr – 19km
This challenging tramp begins with the track to Roys Peak. From the peak, follow the ridge line over Mt Alpha and descend through snow tussock to a 4WD track. Then follow the poled route to the Cardrona Road, 10 kilometres from Wanaka Town. This track is prone to low cloud cover.
Not recommended during winter.
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Monday, June 7th, 2010
Mount Iron Walk lookout, dogs, no bikes, DOC
1.5hr return – 4.5km
Mount Iron is an impressive, glacier-carved, 240-metre rocky knoll. From its summit a great panorama unfolds: Lakes Wanaka and Hawea, the Cardrona and Upper Clutha Valleys and all the surrounding peaks; many of them in Mount Aspiring National Park in the west.
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Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
I see that two “adventure athletes” – Darren Blackhurst and Chris Dagg – covered the 49Km from Wanaka to Macetown along the Te Araroa trail in 7hrs 25minutes. That is an amazing effort, and it was not just them that were impressive – they only won by a couple of minutes, and about 34 teams finished the event!
The Motatapu event had previously “just” involved running/walking or mountain biking along the valley floor, but this year an additional event was included: running/walking the mountain trail that was established as the link between the Wanaka and Queenstown areas on Te Araroa, our national trail.
This “new event” consists of a trail described as “3-4 days”, and featuring 3 new huts – all established when Shonia Twain purchased the surrounding land a few years ago. The deal whereby this trail was established, deemed to be open “24×365″ and with three new huts was in fact initially suggested by Te Araroa Trust – so all credit to them, as they say. Given that fact, it is a shame that the Motatapu event organisers did not include “Te Araroa” in the title of this new event. But I digress!
So, mountain runners can cover a “3-4 day trail” in less than the amount of time most of us consider to be one working day, and this trail has almost 3000m of vertical climbing! Needless to say, they didn’t need to use the huts – unless nature called, in which case they did have other options!
All-in-all, a great event in a great part of the country – even if the competitors didn’t have time to fully appreciate the splendour of the area! That, of course, is why the rest of us take our time!
City Walker
Tags: Macetown, Motatapu, national trail, Queenstown, Te Araroa, Wanaka | Posted in Walks | 1 Comment »