LAKE TEKAPO – WANAKA
Section Distance = 201 km
Total Distance = 1449 km
Helloooo lake country! Took a break from hiking to cycle the Lake Tekapo to Lake Ohau section of trail. Much faster than walking…
Leaving Lake Ohau behind I officially passed from Canterbury to Otago after crossing the Ahuriri River! I finished the day with wet boots and pants but setting up camp on the far bank that evening meant I would at lest start dry the next day…
This is the last big river crossing on the south island so it was great to get out of of the way and we ended up with 8 TA’s in our tent village ⛺⛺⛺ that night.
I packed up camp (wet tent as usual 😏) and made it to the top of the steep bank in time for sunrise!
Today the trail crossed through farms and follows a 4wd track up a long gradual incline over Mt Martha Saddle and down the other side to the Timaru River.
It was such a hot sunny day ☀️ that I sat with my feet in the river while my tent died in the afternoon sun.
There were so many grasshoppers and butterflies today as well as a giant dragonfly! 🦗🦋🦗🦋🦗🦋 It always amazes me where I find animals, the seemingly barren scree slopes of a 1500m peak – yep 😀
After hearing so many people say the trail route between Top Timaru and Stody’s Hut was less than ideal, I followed the river instead! The flow was low and the walk was not only beautiful but a lot of fun. There was one section that required rejoining the trail to avoid a waterfall but otherwise a straight forward ‘diversion’.
This was followed by a 2km almost vertical ascent 🥵 to Stody’s Hut and a further 11km (of thankfully more gradual ascent) to the summit of Breast Hill!
Great views over Lake Hawea from the top and the sunrise the next morning as I descended was lovely to watch. The vertical knee murdering descent on the other hand was not quite so lovely…
Flat gravel roadwalking along Lake Hawea to Albert Town followed, by which time my knee had decided we had gone far enough for the day and I got a lift the remaining distance to Wanaka.
This meant I did have to do some hiking on my planned rest day BUT I could slack pack (hike without my big pack) the last 12km and smash it out before brunch by the lake in Wanaka 😃
My next section through to Queenstown should only take around 4 days (with lots of ups and downs to hike in that time)…
I should also reach the 1500km or half way point of my TA journey in the next few days 🙌🥾😬 What should I do to celebrate???
The Adventures of Tiny_Tramper 