Te Araroa : Queenstown to Mavora Lakes

KM this section : 52
KM completed : 2723

TSS Earnslaw.

I'm a bit dubious about Queenstown - it is very touristy indeed, and in particular caters to a young 'extreme sports' crowd, here for the canyoning (no, no idea) etc., not really my kind of place.  Still my campsite is pleasant (free wine in the fridge to complement my four cheeseburgers) and I find a bar with five dollar pints so not all bad.  And I do leave in style... this is yet another 'dead end for walkers', as we have to find a way past Lake Wakatipu, NZ's third largest lake.  I do it by taking the TSS Earnslaw, a paragon of steam technology from 1912, which makes impressive speed over the water.  Shame there aren't more such things still around, I guess the need for a stoker to constantly shovel in fuel is a problem - reminds me of my own fuel regime...

On the rather nice private path along Lake Wakatipu.

One issue, I reach the other side of the lake at 11am some thirty kilometres south of where the trail restarts.  Well no biggie, twelve kilometres of gravel road, then the map shows a track along the water's edge, this turns out to be lovely grassy walking with of course wonderful views.  It's private land, but frankly I don't really care... in the event there is a single padlocked gate en route that I climb, beyond that no problem reaching the trailhead (flush toilets!) and camping nearby.

Walking remains good up the Greenstone river, you can tell this is still 'circular walk from a base at Queenstown' territory.  But once past the obvious 'loop back' point things go downhill... not literally, I climb up over a saddle, but the path becomes hard to find, the terrain is boggy, and it is raining.  At least it is a short day, but I have to say on arrival at Taipo hut, my stop for the night, I'm feeling a little unenthusiastic.  Oh well, two couples, one French and one German, arrive, and despite the weather they have more than enough enthusiasm for us all.

I get my mojo back soon enough though, as next day the sun comes out, there is fine walking along farm tracks through the high country, and before long the North Mavora Lake comes into view, another one for the LOTR location list (Nen Hithoel for what it's worth).  Certainly a nice place to camp... not totally loving the way that next morning, the condensation inside my tent flysheet has actually frozen, still, wonderful to see the mist rising from the lake as the sun crests the surrounding hills.

North Mavora Lake.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.