15 - 17 April 2015
We arrived in Te Wahipounamu, which is a World Heritage Site in South West New Zealand. Our first stop was the Knights Point lookout.
The 140-km section of State Highway 6 is a spectacular and scenic road linking Wanaka and Haast. There are many walks and scenic attractions accessible directly off this highway.
Ship Creek Walk allows tourists to experience swamp forest. We stopped here for toilet break. Unfortunately we did not have time to proceed with the walk.
Thunder Creek Falls, 5 min return
Fantail Falls is a fan-shaped waterfall at the foot of Fantail Creek, 5 min return
Haast Pass Lookout Track requires 1 hour return. This track led us to a view point above the bushline with a stunning vista. The track cut through a fairy forest with thickly moss-covered trees
Cameron Lookout, 20 min return where we overlooked the Makarora valley and surrounding mountain peaks.
Cameron Flat, 15 min return has imposing views of the Makarora River, the Cameron and Blue valleys.
Blue Pool Walk, 1 hour return starting from Muddy Creek through silver beech to a swing bridge overlooking the pools at the mouth of Blue River.
We arrived at Lake Hawea, not far from Wanaka township
Wanaka bakpaka is located right on the lakeside. It was my return stay at this place. I always enjoyed taking my breakfast at the barbecue area while looking at the spectacular view at Lake Wanaka despite the cold weather.
Knowing that the weather would turn bad in the next few days, we decided to do the Rocky Mountain Summit Track on our first day in Wanaka. This is a 7km track which requires 3 hours return on average. We however took almost 4 hours including photo stops.
The view from the summit was stunning. It definitely worth the 4 hours hard work.
Diamond Lake lookout must not be missed
Caravans along the way from Rocky Mountain to Wanaka township
We headed to Eely Point for rest. I fell in love with the fall colors this time as my last trip here was in Spring.
We headed for our second walk at Mount Iron. Mount Iron is an impressive, glacier carved, rocky knoll that rises nearly 250 m above the surrounding countryside. As a result, from the summit there are excellent 360-degree views of the The Pisa range, the Upper Clutha Basin, Lake Wanaka and the Southern Alps/Kā Tiritiri o te Moana. The walk is steep and requires around 2 hours return.
16 April 2015
The plan for Mt Roy Track and car museum was called off today due to the poor weather. We spent the morning doing bakery and preparing for the picnic lunch in the backpacker. At noon, we drove to Eely Point again. It might not be a good idea to do picnic as the weather was very cold and windy. Our hands were freezing and yet we could not hide them in the pockets as we needed to cook.
We went back to the town and had dessert.
17 April 2015
We left Wanaka and headed to Arrowtown via Cardrona, Cardrona Hotel was established in 1863 and is one of New Zealand's oldest and most iconic hotel. The hotel is one of only two remaining buildings from the Cardrona Valley gold rush era.
We took the Crown Range Road, which is the highest paved road in New Zealand, reaching an altitude of 1,121m above the sea level. The views on the road are simply stunning and spectacular and the driving is well worth it – with absolutely spectacular views over Queenstown
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