Mt Aspiring - The Rob Roy Glacier

Whilst we were in Wanaka between Christmas and the New Year we completed this half day walk with Carolina's Mum and Sister. The route is as described in the 'Other Tramps' section of the 'Lonely Planet - Tramping in New Zealand'


Part of the fun of this trip is getting to the start of the walk, some 54km from Wanaka and mostly on a gravel road. There are at least 4 fords to cross and after heavy rain the road can be come impassable for a time and is also subject to occasional washouts.


Trusty BQ negotiating the fords on the Rasberry Creek road.


Carolina's Mum inspecting the facilities at Rasberry Creek.

There were no such problems on the day that we were there though, but we did start early with the forecast for late rain. From the Raspberry Creek car park it is a short stroll along the West Branch of the Matukituki to the swingbridge which gives access to the Rob Roy stream. Just beyond the swing bridge the path climbs a short steep slope to give excellent views further up the West Branch.

The swingbridge over the West Branch of the Matukituki River.


The view from the swingbridge.


Looking up the West Matuktuki from above the swingbridge.

The track then sidles in, fairly high above the river for most of the way, before eventually dropping back down to it just before the bush line. There were a couple of sections of track which had been destroyed by slides and these areas required some care to negotiate safely.


The Rob Roy Stream.

Beyond the bush line the valley opens out a lot and it isn't far from here to the end of the track. We stopped at this great viewpoint for morning tea and watched the ice calving off of the glaciers far above us and listening to the kea flying over us. Eventually it started to get a little chilly as the cloud rolled in and we returned by the same route.


Wind blown water off of Rob Roy Peak.


The Rob Roy Glacier.


Heading back to Rasberry Creek.

Wanaka - Diamond Lake and Rocky Mountain

An easy half day stroll to the Diamond Lake and the 'Rocky Mountain', all of 775m above sea level and just a 300m climb from the lake level. It was very hot when we walked this route and there is very little shelter from the sun throughout.



From the car park a short walk took us the beautiful and popular Lake Diamond, before we climbed to the summit of Rocky Mountain for a long and lazy lunch as well as a spot of sun bathing. The views from this easily reached summit are spectacular, with both Lake Wanaka and the West Matukituki Valley being in full view. We returned by the same route, though it is possible to make a short loop that sidles back around the hill a little.


On the Lake Diamond Trail.


Lake Diamond from above.


Lake Diamond from the lookout.


Rocky Mountain summit.


Looking towards the West Matukituki from Rocky Mountain.


Looking towards Lake Wanaka from Rocky Mountain.

Boxing Day at Camp Bay

From the 26th December

We took the pack rafts over to Camp Bay on the Bank's Peninsula for a day of swimming, surfing and lazing on the beach. As an added bonus we came back with a glorious dish of mussels for dinner.

Christmas Day on Godley Head

From 25th December

We had Carolina's Mum and youngest sister over for Christmas and New Year. On Christmas Day we took them on our favourite Christchurch walk to work up an appetite for Christmas Lunch - over to Godley Head from Taylor's Mistake and back again.

Hut Spur to Bruce Stream

From the weekend of 27th November

Tramping the Bruce Stream saw a return to Arthurs Pass for us and the opportunity to traverse one of our favourite ridges, to Bealey Top Hut and further along Hut Spur.



The gentle track from the Bach’s at Bealey Spur has to be the best in The Park for getting somewhere with great views very easily. A small knoll at around the 1000m mark provides fantastic views across the Waimakariri Valleys as well as back across to the Minga and Bealey Valleys. We stopped for lunch here and watched the gathering clouds away to the East. Unusually for Arthur’s Pass, there was not a cloud in the sky to the west of The Divide.

The situation was further complicated as we climbed higher as it started to thunder. Shortly afterwards, the altimeter went crazy, the walking poles starting fizzing and my hair was standing on end. It was high time we got off of the ridge and we dropped in to the basins at the head of the Power Stream. The rain finally moved away and the weather improved dramatically as we sidled round to the saddle at the back of Blind Spur.

Beyond this we traversed past a delightful still iced up tarn above Junction Stream, before following a magical deer track / stream down a steep but practically bush free descent of Junction Spur. A quick scouting around for campsites saw us camped on a grassy terrace above the stream.

Sunday was a blue sky day and we had great fun in the Bruce Stream. There were two gorges to negotiate, the upper being the most demanding which included a small waterfall to climb around in the bush. Finding a route back to the stream from here was a bit more difficult than we had imagined and we had to try several times before being able to descend back to the river bed.

Beyond here there is a long section of easy walking and at our lunch stop I took a good opportunity to swim in one of the many pools.

The second gorge started soon after the confluence of the Power Stream and this was also great fun with many river crossings and some scrambling around boulders. The route eventually finishes with a short gravel bash and pops out on the highway by the main river bridge only a stone’s throw from the start. A quick drink at the Bealey Hotel afterwards completed a great weekend.

Pack Rafting the Nina

From Sunday 21st November.

We have invested in some new toys. We now have pack rafts which should allow us to cruise back down the rivers on trips and give us a bit more versatility as well.

After a quick test one Sunday afternoon in the Avon / Heathcote Estuary (bravely ignoring the signs giving dire warning of polluted water which have been in place ever since the earthquake) we were ready for something a bit bigger and headed up to the Nina Valley for our first trip.




A three hour walk along the true left of the Nina (which is incidentally a much more scenic route than the new and now eroded track on the otherside) we reached the old Nina Hut site and after a quick lunch break we launched at the confluence of the Nina and Duchess Stream. It took about 20 minutes to go from Tramping to Rafting including inflating the rafts.



We rafted for about an hour and a half in total, certainly quicker than walking and absolutely fantastic fun.



It was a very quick learning curve and this first rip taught us a lot. We probably need to get spray decks for the rafts, certainly need to get helmets (collisions with rocks seem sometimes unavoidable!) and at the very least the packs (rucksacks) need to be stored in a waterproof fashion and water quickly gets everywhere. Even on a warm day you get cold very quickly as you are getting splashed all the time and end of sitting in a puddle of cold water. Might take the waterproof gloves next time.

We beached just before the new Nina swing bridge, having had a good trip. A few minutes of steady walking saw the warmth return to our bones as well and we headed out back on the Nina Track.