Road walkin‘ – the section of the TA between Lake Tekapo past Twizel overlaps a long cycle path/route called the Alps to Ocean Cycle Trail. In fact, many TA hikers choose to hire/rent bikes to ride some of this section, which I now totally understand, as it’s about 85 km of just gravel roads and cycle path. We opted to save some money and keep walking. Since the terrain was easy and it was very flat, we did about 75km in two days. The first day out of Lake Tekapo was on a gravel road along the Tekapo Canal, which was thankfully closed to almost all traffic except a few pickup trucks here and there working for the energy company. The wind was crazy, so we were thankful when we could turn South to walk along Lake Pukaki and enjoy a bit of a tail wind! We found a lovely little campsite along the lake and were lulled to sleep by sound of the wind and the waves. The next day we walked to the little town of Twizel, where we took a long break to eat and resupply before walking on. We came to yet another big, blue, beautiful lake where we set up camp. The next day we had about 10k to walk on the trail and a road before finally getting on a track again.
Lake Ohau to Wanaka – the first bit of track was another bike track, so we could ease into the climb with a really nice trail. We had lunch at a picnic table with a wonderful view before our TA trail turned and started climbing much more steeply. It was a beautiful climb along a river up and over a saddle, and we could see several waterfalls all around us in the distance. It was also a very tough climb, with our tired legs and our heavy, freshly-resupplied packs. We had a long descent down before we set up camp.
First thing in the morning, we had a river crossing – the Ahuriri River, the largest river crossing officially on the trail. The water levels looked good so we picked our route and crossed. That was just the beginning though, because to get out of the river valley we had to climb basically straight up this steep bank. Have I mentioned before that New Zealand doesn’t do switchbacks?? Thankfully I only sustained one pretty nasty scrape from a pretty nasty plant. We then walked a long day through farm track and then along a 4WD track that took us up and over Martha’s Saddle.
Fun story: Ben’s adventurous and heroic night hike! – So, just before Martha’s Saddle really started to climb, we stopped at a little hut for lunch, and Ben got out our little camp “kitchen” – the bag with our pot, camp stove, fuel, and other little accessories – so we could have some tea. After lunch, we climbed up about 500 meters over 7km and then down about the same throughout another 8km or so to the hut where we’d be staying. We got there around 5pm and were really excited to be done a little early, so we just relaxed and read for a bit. Around 7pm we decided to make dinner, and realized that we were missing our camp kitchen. We had left it all the way at the hut we’d lunched in! We’re no stranger to losing things on this trip, but Ben was determined to get this back, if only to make sure we’d have our coffee in the morning! So he packed his pack with only the things he’d need: warm clothes, plenty of granola bars and water, headlamps, the phone, and the PLB (personal locating beacon- which I insisted on him taking!). He left the hut around 7:45pm to hike the 15ish km with 500ish meters ascent and descent back over Martha’s Saddle, and then back! In the dark. After already hiking about 28km that day over the same Saddle. He got back around 1:00am. Meanwhile, I ate tuna on tortillas, went to bed as soon as the sun went halfway down because Ben took both of our headlamps, and tried to shut my worrying mind down enough to sleep. The mission was a success and we really enjoyed our coffee the next morning!
The next day was another long one. We started by walking along the river, then we had a stupid steep climb up – about 400m ascent within 2 km – to a hut where we had lunch. The trail leveled out a bit then had we just had a really long steady climb up to Breast Hill.
The top of Breast Hill was definitely a highlight! We were worried the clouds would impede our view, but the clouds just made it even more dramatic. Lake Hawea was directly below, and we saw mountains on mountains beyond that and around us. Each range looks so different from one to the next, so from that point we could see several different kinds of mountain landscapes and forms – jagged, rippled, green, brown, snow-capped. We sat there and took it all in, stared in awe, took some photos, cried in joyful amazement, and then did was most thru-hikers probably do in a beautiful, scenic place like that: took advantage of the cell phone reception. 🙂
The next day was yet another long one- a big descent and then a long walk through Lake Hawea village, along bike paths, and finally to Wanaka. We took a full day off in Wanaka which we spent going to the quirky little movie theatre, cooking delicious meals, and being the grumpy old people telling the young tourists to be quiet at 3:30 in the morning.
Wanaka to Queenstown – this short section was indeed short, about 70km, but intense. The elevation profile on our gps showed a series of 5 big, steep climbs basically one right after the other. The first day we walked out of Wanaka on a nice bike path and road until we got to the start of the Motatapu track, then we climbed up to the first hut. We didn’t get as far as we wanted because we got a late start that morning, so we (Ben) apparently just decided to do a crazy day the next day….
The second day on the Motatapu track was like the main event, exactly what we’d been training for. It was only about 26km, but in that short(ish) distance (about 16 miles), we climbed up and down 4 times, steep ascents and descents of about 400-500 meters. Our first big climb brought us up into a cloud, so we were worried we wouldn’t get any views, but the weather cleared up throughout the day. In the middle of each climb, I was certain I couldn’t do any more and that I would most likely die before this climb was over let alone do any more, but by the time we got to the bottom, I’d think “that wasn’t so bad, I could do another one!” It totally reminded me of run club, the long hill workout we do on 11th street or the stairs at the dome!
We camped that night at Macetown, an old abandoned mining town. It rained overnight at early the next morning so we put the phone away safely and started walking along a 4WD track. After a couple hours we finally checked and realized we were totally off track. Apparently we were supposed to hike up an actual track up and over one more Saddle, but instead we followed the 4WD track along the river all the way to Arrowtown. We had to cross the river a ton and the route added a few kilometers, but we skipped the final big climb of the section! It turned out to be a beautiful walk, and it would have probably been cloudy up on that darn Saddle anyway!
From Arrowtown, we walked along the Queenstown cycle trail all the way to Frankton where we stayed for the night. The next day we walked the rest of the 8k to Queenstown, a tourist hub, where we had a coffee and had to figure out how to hitch around the lake.
To be continued… !
tramps, treks, and travels 