Out & About in Wanaka

Real-time

We're back in Queenstown after our visit to Moke Lake where it rained virtually solid for 5 days and 5 nights, blew a gale for most of the time and was very cold! There were a couple of brief sunny patches when the cloud and mist lifted to reveal a light dusting of snow on the surrounding mountains and then it would close in and the rain would start again. I got caught in the rain at the far end of the lake, I was determined to walk the lake loop before we left. And David got caught in a heavy downpour while packing up and hitching up as we were leaving. And it's still raining today. 

We actually didn't mind the weather though, we were snug and warm in the van; the diesel heaters really earnt their keep and we were able to catch up on a lot of computer work (especially because there was no internet connection to interrupt the work flow). We also collected enough water to fill our tanks and drinking containers 10 times over- it's been a long time since we've not had to cart or top up water from taps or other water sources. And we had the place virtually to ourselves, if you don't count the 13 retired rams that arrived bedraggled and limping mid week! Their female cohorts were loaded onto a stock truck and carted away.

I know some of you will be waiting for the Skippers Road blog but I thought I’d tidy up some loose ends from our visit to Wanaka & Queenstown during April (this was before we returned to Winton). We’re now back here hoping to explore the road to Glenorchy and beyond. If this weather ever clears.

I’m hoping these posts will be mostly pictorial, with some brief descriptions (famous last words?). So here we go- 

Out & About in Wanaka

Glendhu Bay, Lake Wanaka- David returning in the Takacat from a day of fishing….and catching zilch. Lake Wanaka was not a very productive lake for him, but he thoroughly enjoyed the hunt.

The last of a long hot summer at Glendhu Bay; warm days, calm waters, beautiful sunrises, crisp mornings, autumn colours and no snow on Treble Cone which overlooks the camp ground. 

‘Faded Dreams of Summer'

Easter signalled the end of the holidays for a multitude of caravans at Glendhu Bay Holiday Park. They are stored, for their owners, at the far end of the camp. Lined up on the access roads, drapes & blinds drawn, in hibernation for the winter. 

At the height of the summer season there are over 1000 campers holidaying at Glendhu Bay. Some people have been coming to this camp for 40-50 years, there is even a couple that have holidayed here for the last 62 years!

I visited Wanaka’s famous ‘lone willow’ for the third time…

…and captured a combination of the past visits- autumn colours and very wet feet.

The lone willow began its life as a fence post, marking the end one of the many fences that end thigh deep in the water around the lake- this stopped stock from walking around the end and allowed for fluctuations in the lake level. The fence that was here was part of Wanaka Station which is now part of residential Wanaka.

On the left is the Lone Tree in April 2014 (the one above was in April this year) and on the right, June last year. I see the same shag is still in residence too.

Enjoying the sun on Wanaka’s lakefront.

The Gypsy Fair came to town for their last gathering of the season… (click on the photo to enlarge)

They were lined up for a photo shoot just as I passed by which was very convenient of them.

Looking out over Roys Bay from the Cenotaph above the town.

While David went fishing I went hunting for autumn colours and found them right around the lake and along the Clutha River.

Although I did get distracted when I found a patch of wild flowers which included California Poppies and Queen Anne Lace with bees buzzing about.

These are honey bees, the good guys…

If you're unsure (and can pause a moment while jumping about waving your arms) check their legs; wasps (the nasty beggars) have yellow legs (amongst other things).

Autumn at Albert Town camping ground on the banks of the mighty Clutha River, just down from its outlet from Lake Wanaka.

Autumn wouldn’t be complete with out the brilliant reds of the briar rose hips which are everywhere…

… the subtle crimsons and maroons of the red oak trees.

We visited the popular and fascinating Puzzling World on a hot and busy day. And then we got lost in their maze. We actually had to use the quick (get me out of here!) exit. Which in fact was still hard to find. I felt sorry for an older lady who was wandering about looking for the same exit, she was lost too. We couldn’t help her, as even though we could see and talk to her, we didn’t know where to direct her, to get to where we were by the exit. If you have 1-2 hours spare try the maze. It frustrated the hell out of us both; we’re not ones to be contained.

Imagine visiting these loos feeling a little worse for wear.

And that was Wanaka.

Out & About in Alex

Our next stop was a short 9kms down the road in Alexandra, where we parked up for two nights at Molyneux Park, a NZMCA POP. There’s a three night maximum stay and only eight vehicles at a time, are allowed to park over but we had the place to ourselves except for one vehicle who arrived late and left early on the last night. A little different to the last time we passed through Alexandra when we called into check the site out and it was full.

Molyneux Park contains Alex’s sports fields and buildings which are used for a range of sports from rugby, soccer, cricket to judo and squash, it also contains the aquatic centre, a skateboard bowl and an ice rink. David enjoyed having a spa, and swim in the heated pool, at the Aquatic centre. Other than Saturday morning the place was pretty quiet (a hint  for fellow campers- don't park near the skateboard bowl where kids now ride their bikes). On Saturday there was a steady stream of vehicles moving up and down the road delivering children to their Saturday morning sports, most seemed to be running late to get somewhere, hitting the speed humps with a good thump.

The park is also very handy to town with the supermarket just down the road. An ideal place to stop and do all the chores except for the lack of an easy access dump station in town. Try filling up with petrol (for generator), diesel (for heater & ute), water for house tank and dump the three house waste tanks on the forecourt of a busy Caltex service station on a Saturday morning. Dumping right beside the drive through carwash is very off-putting, both for us and the people waiting in their cars in the queue. And I can imagine Subway just behind the dumping vehicles gets a few unpleasant smells when the wind is blowing the wrong way!

Busloads of children arrived and departed from the ice rink during the day. An ice rink is another novelty for me, this is the first outdoor ice rink I have seen. I learnt to roller skate on a concrete rink, that’s all we had in Napier. The Marine Parade rink was my ‘hang-out’ place when I was a teen. How cool that the local children learn to ice skate and curl as part of their winter school curriculum, a skill they’ll have for life.

I love the penguin sledges which help them with their balance as they learn, I wonder if they have bigger versions for adults..... Don’t you love that little guy's helmet. And going by his skating skills I don't think he'll be keen to give the sledge away anytime soon. He knew what he was doing, racing fast everywhere and knocking a few kids off their feet along the way. His helmet matched his character for sure.

I’m not sure whether the rather large scary looking wooden sculpture near the front gate entices the little kids in, I saw a couple  giving him a wide berth. It was interesting watching the kids curl, those white ‘things’ are for balance instead of the brooms the big boys use. Check out the small child in the background on the bottom photo, hanging onto the wall for dear life- I think that’d be me if I tried to give it a go. Ice skating is a lot harder than roller skating.

Before we left Alexandra, I took a drive up to the lookout, that’s the Clutha River along the back and the Manuherikia River in the foreground, their junction is at the top left near the steel truss arch bridge over the Clutha. The town centre is on the point on the inside of the rivers.

It was late in the afternoon but I managed to take a few church photos- this is St Enochs Union Church built in 1877.

And I found ‘Shaky Bridge’, an historic suspension bridge built over the Manuherikia River. Before the bridge was built the only way across the river was by punt, the bridge was also used by wagons and horses however today the bridge is strictly for pedestrians only.

The bridge opened in 1879 at a cost of £974 and was later sold for £1 to two settlers living across the river. The bridge fell into a state of neglect but was eventually repaired, it was at this time the bridge was narrowed to foot traffic only.

And across the bridge I also found a great little cafe, aptly name Shaky Bridge Cafe which is part of the Shaky Bridge Vineyard next door. I bet this place is busy during the weekend and over the summer, there were many walkers, cyclists and runners crossing the bridge on their circuits even while I was there. We’ll have to stop there the next time we are in town.

How many astute readers noticed the clock on the hill in the photo, two above? This Alexandra icon has been hanging above the town since 1968 and lit up at night, it can be seen 5kms away. Here are the facts and figures-

• Diameter: 11m
• Minute Hand: 5.6m including the counterweight.
• Hour Hand: 4m including the counterweight.
• Weight: Each hand weighs approximately 270kg. The driving mechanism weighs approximately 760kg.
• Mechanism: Reduction gearboxes powered by one 3/4 hp synchronous motor.
• Lighting: 150 torch bulbs, powered by a reduction transformer.
• Structure: Six vertical steel columns averaging 7.3m in length, supported on concrete foundations, fastened into the rock face with steel supports.
• Location: On the Knobbies Range to the east of Alexandra.
• Height Above Sea Level: 200m

And one last photo, of the historic Vallance Cottage which was built in the late 1880s and lived in until the 1970s when there was still no running water inside and only cold running water in the separate wash-house. I didn’t check, but apparently the back door step is almost level with the ground due to the lady of the house being a “fastidious housekeeper” who scrubbed it daily. This tiny two bedroom mudbrick cottage was the home of William & Jean Vallance and their nine children. Nine children!!

Flat Top Hill Conservation Park

We’ve not done much exercise in the last couple of months, we've been blobbing it a bit, both because of the cold and the fact we’ve been enjoying just being parked up and relaxing with the family.

So  I was thinking we’d ease back into it, it was such a lovely day we’d walk the Butchers Dam Loop, an hour long walk at the back of the dam that took you a little higher up the hill so we could see the whole lake.

I mentioned that I’d love to walk to the top though,  because I was sure that we’d be able to see the Clutha River Gorge over the other side. So it was a nice surprise when David said “Let’s go!, we'll walk to the top” So we set off along the Basin View track which initially followed a 4WD track west along the base of the hill, slowly climbing.

Looking back we could see the dam wall and the lake with ‘Out There’, way over the other side. We got a bit of a fright when we saw a car pull up beside the van, it’s an awful feeling seeing someone near your vehicles and knowing that there was nothing we could do if they had ill intent on their minds. We breathed a sigh of relief when they walked off after awhile, with a dog bounding ahead of them. I don’t know why we got a fright, we leave the vehicles all the time and have never had an issue. I think it was because we could see them.

The 4WD track wound it’s way in and out of the gullies and seemed to go on forever, around every bend we thought we’d turn to start the climb up the ridge. In the end David decided a short cut was in order. Especially when he saw a line of sparsely placed small white pegs with a tiny blue ribbon attached, weaving their way up the side of the hill beside us. After a bit of a discussion and a check of his tracking app, we decided to follow the white pegs and cut off the corner of the hill.

I don’t know what the pegs were for, perhaps for a yet to be cleared mountain bike track (mountain biking has only recently been given permission to form tracks over the hill), or an orienteering course or maybe a cross country race, but we carefully followed them up the hill, around and through the many rock piles and over the dried thyme which gave out a fragrant smell as we disturbed it. For a non-native plant it’s certainly made itself at home, it covers nearly every inch of space for as far as the eye can see.

We’re climbing higher and the dam is getting smaller and our van is still in view…with no cars parked nearby.

After the initial steep climb the ground levels out a little, the white pegs disappear and we’re still not back on the main track with the DOC orange marker poles to lead the way. I spot a white stick with no blue ribbon far up to the left but David thinks we should go to the right (which is the way we'll be heading when we do find the top- he's keen to shorten this walk some more). We beg to disagree and he heads off on his own to the right, I head to the left and pick up the peg trail again just below the outcrop of rocks on the left ridge.

We weren’t too concerned as either way we had to reach the top of the hill and the track soon- anyway I wasn’t going to starve, I had the food, all he had was my tripod and a thermos of hot water!  But seriously, I can see how people get lost out tramping in groups, especially if they disagree with a direction and head off on their own course.

I made it to the DOC track first but had to walk further, as I came around a peak I could see David ahead of me, beating his way through the briar bushes.

We were finally on the track and heading for the top, I turned around to check out the view to the north, towards the Maniototo, where we’ll be heading next. Far off in the distance are the snow covered Southern Alps. It’s a bit hazy, a photographer I spoke to at the dam earlier in the day told me there was a big burn off on one of the stations and the whole valley was covered in a smoky haze.

We found a view to die for and a large flat rock to sit on to have our lunch before the last final push to the top of Flat Top Hill. SH8 (Roxburgh to Alexandra section) can be seen running along behind the lake and up behind is the snow covered Old Man Range. No wonder this walk is called the Basin View.

After lunch, refreshed and refueled, we headed off again, the track nice and level for a short distance…

…before we pass a vehicle track that heads off back down to the lake and David is tempted to take it when he sees how steep the last section to the top is. I tell him there’s no way I’m taking. After coming this far, I want to see if the Clutha River is on view when we get to the top. He decides to stick with me. It’s a tough haul up the rutted track, not least because it’s turned into a bloody hot day and we have winter clothing on.

Finally we are rewarded, the Clutha River snaking it’s way down the gorge from Alex. I’d love to see this view in the autumn when all those willows along the banks would be in their autumn colours and the river a brilliant turquoise. That’s a walking track along the other side of the river and part of the Clutha Gold cycle track runs along this side of the gorge in the shadow.

There are some amazing rock formations all over the hill, from stacked rounds of schisk piled on top of each other to slivers that look to have been pushed sideways.

The track passes close by a rocky outcrop that drops away into the gorge below. It’s a pity we left our run a bit late and the sun is leaving the riverbed. This is looking east towards Roxburgh, the cycle trail can be seen more clearly in this shot. It may not look like it but it’s a very long way down there, I doubt you’d see more than a black dot on the path if anyone was passing by.

I wonder how the rock finds its way to sticking up like this.

David’s getting weary, and impatient to find the track back to the dam, he leaves me in his wake. Which isn’t hard when I keep stopping to take photos.

We pass a cutting in the rocks and can see straight down to the lake….and our van again. I’ve zoomed in quite a bit here. There’s no way down through this section, we have to carry on along the ridge.

Finally we find a road going virtually straight down, we can see another sign a few hundred metres further on and looking through the binoculars and checking the tracking app we see that it’s the walking track to the bottom but it wends its way back and forth down the steep hill taking all the steepness out of it but probably doubling the distance to walk.

We decide the Haul Road will do us so off we head, down some very steep sections, we skid on the loose gravel and try not to let our feet get away on us. By about half way our toe tips and knees are complaining, it reminds me of walking down the Key Summit track on the Milford Road.

It took forever to reach the bottom, and even then we took a short cut when the track headed off in the opposite direction before reappearing at the base of the hill. Six kilometres and three and a half hours later we arrive at the lake edge and head for home passing the remains of Lye Bow, the Chinese gentleman’s cob cottage on the way (see the previous blog for details).

Maybe next time David will listen to me when I say we’ll ease our way back into walking.

From DOC-
The Flat Top Hill Conservation Area consists of 813 ha purchased by DOC in 1992. Situated behind Butchers Dam, it encompasses the northern end of Flat Top Hill running north to south, bounded by Lake Roxburgh in the east and Butchers Creek and State Highway 8 in the west. Flat Top Hill is a miniature block mountain, at the foot of the Old Man Range (Kopuwai). 

A dry land ecosystem, Flat Top Hill supports a diverse range of animal and plant life, including examples of regenerating native plant species that previously covered much of the lowland valleys of Central Otago. Dry land ecosystems are one of New Zealand’s most threatened ecosystems. Flat Top Hill is important for observation, recording and management of such ecosystems.

The area also includes some interesting historical evidence of European and Chinese settlement.