21-30 July 2024

Leader: Bryan Wild

Five of us flew to Queenstown, then drove to Wanaka on 21st July. We skied for 4 days, did some walking and sightseeing, and came back on 30th July.

Monday 22nd July - Glenda: Time to go skiing! With our Wanaka accommodation sorted and the skis, boots, poles and thermals unpacked, it was time to hit the slopes. We had four-day ski passes and Cardrona Ski Field was up first. We drove to the carpark and parked (as directed) rather too close for comfort to the edge of a steep drop and got out into a roaring wind and a misty outlook. It was on with every layer we had whilst hanging on to our gear. If anything had blown over the edge it would have been gone forever! The wind was not as bad once we had walked up to the ski field buildings.

First up was the novelty of the Chandola - a combined chairlift and 8-seater gondola. Given the weather, we chose the gondola option and were soon at the top of a long, wide green ski slope. This proved the best slope for the day given the mist and wind and provided some good warm-up ski slopes for us to find our ski legs for the first ski of the season.

Tuesday 23rd July - Glenda: Let’s try Treble Cone Ski Field today. The weather was more promising, and this time we drove to the base car park and took the free bus up the hairpin windy road to be delivered to the door. A much better option than trudging uphill from a car park carrying all our gear. We had a pleasant day on one very long run but were surprised by the lack of snow which meant many of the lifts and runs were not open.

Wednesday 24th July - Glenda: A great day at Cardrona. Although there were many more people here than at Triple Cone, the lifts were great at moving a lot of people fast and here more of the field was open. Chris and I had some warm-up runs on the green slope before venturing off to try the blue slopes of the Whitestar Express and the Captains Express Quad. A good day on the slopes, with jelly legs by 3.30pm telling us we had done enough for the day!

Thursday 25th July - Chris: Another fine day at Cardrona and we made final use of our four-day ski passes. Glenda and I skied the blue runs again and we even guided Yingjun down a couple of these slopes. Brandon remained on the green slopes and enjoyed using his shorter “snow blade” skis.

Thursday 25th July - Bryan: As I hadn’t ‘yet’ been given the green light to get back on the slopes, it was a very relaxing time for me just hanging out at the lodge reading and doing a couple of walks into and around Wanaka. By Thursday however, I was itching for something a bit more adventurous and so I hired an ‘e’ mountain bike and arranged a shuttle up to Hawea. It was bluebird day, very clear, with a good frost and with great views towards the distant snow-covered mountains. I was dropped at the edge of the lake, at the road end, and the start of a new (ish) cycle track that follows the lake edge back to Hawea. There were a few others in the same shuttle and they were raving about this new track - ‘the Gladstone Track’. After getting my bearings and a few photos I set off on what was a fairly easy gravel slope. In less than five minutes I couldn’t resist stopping to take more photos when I got into conversation with a solo tramper walking in the opposite direction. We chatted for a good half hour or more mostly about the merits of the area and the southern alps in general. I got underway again absorbing the sheer beauty of the lakeside views which eventually brought me almost into Hawea township, though my route branched off a little before the town. I picked up the river track which ran alongside it, starting at an outflow from the lake. The track ran mostly through bush and eventually to the road-bridge over the Clutha River where I also crossed and rode up into Albert Town for a lunch break at the Pembroke Patisserie which had been highly recommended by the shuttle driver. I think that I put back all the calories I had cycled off in the morning. Half an hour later I was away again. The track followed the Clutha River upstream on a more difficult and narrower track. The river was fast flowing with lots to see. The track went over many tree roots not unlike in the Tararua Range, so it made me feel quite at home. The entire track took me around Beacon Point until I found myself looking over Lake Wanaka and eventually back into the town and to return my rented bike. What a great day!

Friday 26th July - Chris: This was a “rest” day for us, as we had no more days left on our ski passes. The sun was still shining so we climbed Mount Iron at the edge of Wanaka township and got some great views. We then headed to the new Wanaka commercial development area where we stocked up on more food from the supermarket and checked out the bargains at the Mountain Warehouse. For the rest of the day, we relaxed at our apartment.

Saturday 27th July - Brandon: Time for the big tramp. We drove to the Roy’s Peak Carpark (named after John Roy who was a landowner in the area for many years) and set off up the special and much-loved Roy’s Peak (1578m starting at 270m). It is an unusual walk in that it simply goes up the face of the mountain in a continuous zigzag which provides a pleasant gradient for the most part. We set off at 9:15 and were at the viewpoint about 12:15. The views as predicted were stunning, especially as we had clear weather, and the sun reflected off Lake Wanaka. Luckily no one else was at the viewpoint when we got there, as many go up for the sunrise. We did however meet many folk on the track and the carpark had about 20 cars in it. The top was posted as another 30 mins and we all set off, but I bailed out near the top and stopped to have lunch and admire the view. Incredibly you could still see our minibus from the top. At any rate it was now cold with a biting wind, as the best of the sun had passed. The others got to the top but didn’t linger due to the cold. The ice and snow were almost enough to merit crampons. We all made our way down and got back to the car around 4:00pm, tired but glad we did it. The pictures we took were great, but no picture captures what the naked eye can see - wonderful.

Sunday 28th July morning - Chris: No frost this morning but it was cold and wet. We spent the morning at the Wanaka Transport and Toy Museum - a very large museum situated next to the airport. The range of planes, jets, cars, trucks, motorbikes, military equipment, and toys etc was just amazing. The unheated buildings however were very cold and after two hours we were forced to retire to the nearest café we could find - the Pembroke Patisserie in Albert Town.

Sunday 28th July afternoon - Glenda: After lunch all five of us headed off around Glendhu Bay and on to the Diamond Lake Carpark where there was a range of walking options, first around the semi-frozen lake, then up to a lookout point. From there a lot of steps took us up to a track to Rocky Mountain, where a flattish rocky top provided 360-degree panoramic views of Lake Wanaka and surrounding mountains. There were plenty of photos, videos and selfies taken and time to absorb all that beautiful scenery before descending again, carefully at first through some ice and snowy patches before a quick drop down to join Bryan and Brandon in the car park.

Bryan: We all left the car park together, but I walked at a slower pace and so just enjoyed climbing up to get some wonderful views. Whilst the others took off to get the complete circuit in I climbed up Rocky Mountain but had a time frame at which I knew that I would return by and so I did just that. One slight detour gave me views from a different direction and so eventually getting back down to the car at about the same time as Brandon.

Monday 29th July - Chris: No rain today but very cold. Brandon, Yingjun and I returned to the Transport and Toy Museum for more of a look and more photos - our entry tickets were valid for multiple visits. Again, we were amazed at the extensive range of exhibits and again we retreated from the cold after a couple of hours. We returned to our warm and cosy apartment to find that Glenda had made yummy cheese scones which we devoured with hot coffee. We spent the afternoon playing “Quick Scrabble” with all five of us playing together on the tabletop without the scrabble board. In the evening, we had an enjoyable time dining out at the Wanaka Speights Ale House.

Tuesday 30th July - Chris: We picked up the Wanaka Rentacar shuttle driver at 10:30 am and drove through to Queenstown, taking the route through Cromwell as the Crown Range Road was closed because of snow. We flew home late afternoon and landed in a Wellington blizzard.

Those on the trip were:

Brandon Holman, Bryan Wild, Chris Keating, Glenda Robb, Yingjun Shelton

Currently there is no photo album for this trip.