BONUS COVERAGE - More April Adventures

As I've said, the first few posts will attempt to provide you, the intrepid reader, with a summary of what's been going on in the first few months of my New Zealand adventure. Next up, BONUS COVERAGE of one last set of April shenanigans.

Upon my return from "the SIRT," I had the opportunity to go along to Wanaka on a four-day field trip with Columba College, a school I'm placed at once a week for Classics lectures (for teaching practice). The basics of the trip were as follows: spend four days at Glendhu Bay Campground, just outside of Wanaka, and do a selection of day walks in the area. The Wanaka area, located at the base of the Southern Alps and Mt. Aspiring National Park, was a part of the country I only briefly passed through on the road trip, so I of course was very excited about the opportunity. Read on after the jump for a summary of each day's events.

Day One: Dunedin to Wanaka and Mt. Iron

After walking all the way to Columba at the break of dawn (not easy when you've got a 30lb pack and it's more or less 25 minutes straight up hill. AND AT DAWN), we began the 4 hour or so drive to Glendhu Bay. It was my first trip through Central Otago, and the landscape was incredible. Central was the filming location for Rohan it LOTR, and it really felt at times like I was driving through a movie set.

Wanaka, the Lake and the peaks of Mt. Aspiring National
Park from the top of Mt. Iron

Unlit beacon, Gondor is safe

Once we arrived in Wanaka, our first trip would be the relatively easy walk up to the top of Mt. Iron, which would give us great views of Wanaka, Lake Wanaka and as much Wanaka-related scenery as we could handle. It was also the location of the first survey marker, aka BEACON OF GONDOR. A 25 minute walk up and a much shorter walk down, and we were on our way to our base of operations for the next three days, the Glendhu Bay campground.

Day Two: Matukituki Valley and Rob Roy Glacier

We arose bright and early on day two (a frustrating, but necessary, theme of the trip) to get ready for our walk up the Matukituki Valley to have a look at the Rob Roy Glacier. The drive in to the parking lot from which we would start the walk took about 30 minutes, and we had to cross numerous fords, cattle stops and swerve around wandering cows (the drive in is more or less through a farmer's massive property). 

Sunrise over Lake Wanaka, aka PROOF that I was awake
this early

Fairly close to the start of the walk, we crossed the Matukituki River on a pretty rickety looking swingbridge, and from there it was about a 2 hour walk up to the place where we'd be eating lunch. Large portions of the walk were alongside/above a glacier water run-off stream, so it was quite a picturesque little ramble. Once at the lunch spot, I did some off-track rambling, and thus I got some not necessarily authorized views of the Glacier and accompanying waterfalls. After that, it was back down the track, through the farmer's field and back to base camp. A tiring, but very enjoyable day.

Dream house

Swingbridge over the Matukituki

On the way up

Kick-ass glacial waterfall

Mt. Aspiring with Rob Roy Glacier to the left

Vivid blue waters of the glacial stream

Day Three: Roy's Peak

Sheep taking time out of it's busy schedule of eating grass
and pooping to pose for a photo

Day three, was, much to my continuing chagrin, also an early rise. It was alright though, as today I would be climbing up my first mountain (ish!). The summit of Roy's Peak/Mt. Roy is 1578m above sea level, starting at about 400m, we'd be going up over a kilometre in total. The views on the way up were incredible, and at one point, we were walking through the clouds. There were also sheep (and piles of sheep droppings) all over the track, so that was cool too.

Hiking through the clouds

Running along a mountain ridge

Another beacon (or two?!?!?!?!)

Looking over Lake Wanaka from the summit (the track up
is that zig-zaggy bit in the foreground)

Mountain climber

Once at the summit, I did some more wandering along the ridges along the top, and I snapped a picture of another BEACON OF GONDOR. I also got some classic mountaineering photos, more or less standing on top of the mountain with a giant flag. The walk down was much easier, and once we made it back to camp, I took a much-deserved dip in the (goddamn freezing cold) waters of Lake Wanaka.

Day Four: Motatapu Valley and the Fern Burn

"Man, I feel like allowing the New Zealand Department of
Conservation to build a hiking track across my land"

The fourth and final day started, you guessed it, much too early for my liking, but once again the day's walk was looking promising. We'd be walking up the Motatapu River and Fern Burn track to a newly constructed Department of Conservation Hut for lunch, then head back out the way we came. The walk started with a little slice of Canadian culture, as the track is actually partially constructed on land formerly owned by Canadian music icon and true national treasure Shania Twain. When she purchased the land, the NZ government set a condition that she allow the construction of the track, and like any good Canadian girl, she agreed. Sadly though, the land has since passed to her ex-husband Mutt Lange, and there was no sight (or sound) of her.

Motatapu River

Fern Burn Hut at the base of some big ass hill

Bridge over the Motatapu

The track itself was much rougher than our previous walks, so it was a welcome challenge to go along with the scenery. The walk into the hut took about 3 hours, and lunch was a welcome break. In all, it was another wonderful day, and a great conclusion to the trip. 

Day Five was more or less a travel day, I fiddled around in Wanaka for about an hour and then it was on the road back to Dunners. All in all, the trip was very enjoyable, I got to climb a mountain, see another glacier, got to do some rougher tramping and set a world record for number of hot chocolates consumed over a four day period.

Upon my return, I immediately had to pack up all my things for my impending teaching placement in Oamaru, where I would be spending the next six weeks. Details of that experience in my next post. check back soon!

Dave