The route from Wanaka to Queenstown promises to be one of the last big hurdles of the Te Araroa. The elevation profile of the Motatapu Alpine Track looks roughly like this:
Up to 1275 m, down to 820 m, up to 1230 m, down to 790 m, up to 1200 m, down to 680 m, up to 1265 m, down to 630 m and – one more for luck – up to 1060 m and down to 300 m.
- Days 98-101
- This section: 93 km
- Total: 2676 km
But first it was easy going in sunshine along Lake Wanaka.
The Motatapu Alpine Track is a new walking route connecting Wanaka with Arrowtown that only opened in 2008. It is correspondingly well maintained, adequately marked and fitted out with new huts. A dream!
We would happily have called it a day at the pretty Fern Burn Hut. Lovely view, sunshine, 24 kilometres in our legs and enough free bunks – why carry on today? Perhaps to have at least one of the five climbs ahead behind us?
So with heavy hearts we shouldered the packs once more…
We reached Highland Creek Hut sooner than expected. It was a bit busier here than at the last hut, but happily two spots were still free for us. Apart from Erin and Griggs, the others were northbound Te Araroa trampers. We seem to be in a sort of gap at the moment anyway. A large group of Te Araroa hikers is about two days behind us; there is barely anybody in front of us within reach. On the one hand that is a very unfamiliar state of affairs, since so far we always had the feeling the trail was rather crowded. On the other hand it is also comfortable not to end up in a race for the bunks in the huts…
The next day began with two climbs to the last hut on the track, Roses Hut. On every climb my calves burn, on every descent my knees ache.
But as so often (though not always) the landscape is worth the effort and looks like a model of folded mountain ranges in autumnal shades of orange.
At Roses Hut we put our feet up for a while. For half an hour. An hour. Two…
We only carried on because the next stop is the ghost town of Macetown, and the idea of camping in one is rather cool.
Before that, though, it meant stumbling along kilometre after kilometre in true Te Araroa fashion on a constantly climbing and descending path overgrown with thorn bushes…
In the end Macetown was not quite the ghost town I had imagined. Only a single house of the former gold mining town, which between 1884 and the early 20th century housed all of 200 people, is still standing.
The former gold mining town of Arrowtown, where we arrived the next midday, seemed at first glance to be considerably better preserved. In reality, though, everything has been restored for tourism. Never mind. The old Chinese gold mining settlement in particular was interesting to see!
From Arrowtown it is almost another 30 km to our section destination, the popular little town of Queenstown. We had not really wanted to add that to the 15 kilometres already walked. But heavy rain was forecast for the night, and there is no need to go looking for camping in the rain…
There was nothing for it: we picked up our feet once more and hobbled into Queenstown in the evening with aching soles.
We are taking a rest day here before setting off on the final 320 trail kilometres. This is how we are preparing for it:
