Table of Contents
Wonderful Wanaka
Mount Iron Loop Trail/Rob Roy Glacier Tramp
Mount Loop Trail
Yesterday, we took the 4.5km Mount Iron Loop Trail which gives great views of Wonderful Wanaka as a reward for the very steep uphill climb.
We were only walking for a couple of hours, but the elevation gain – up hill consistently for an hour – made it feel like harder work than that.
In the afternoon, we spent a lazier time at the lakeside as a reward.
Rob Roy Glacier Tramp
Today, we decided to attempt the Rob Roy Glacier tramp. The car park at Raspberry Creek is 50kms out of Wanaka and there are 9 stream crossings to get to it …
We decided not to risk it in the hire car, which turned out to be a good decision as the road deteriorates into a very bumpy gravel track for three quarters of the way. The fords are also challengingly deep. We could have tested them by wading through them, but it was nicer to sit in the shuttle bus and not worry about it. We clocked up another 16kms on the tramp today, which will all count towards our goal of 1,000 kms in 2018.
Highlights
First close up view of Rob Roy Glacier – Mother Nature at its Best.
Alpine meadows, framed with mountains with a dusting of snow on top – like icing sugar. Snow in Summer is fairly unusual apparently – I was glad we saw it. It was melting quickly in the heat of the sun today.
Tip for Future Travellers
Wanaka Travel operate a twice daily service from the iSite office up to Raspberry Creek, which makes this hike very doable.
Lowlights
Wanaka is a really beautiful place – but very busy with tourists. Car parking in town is difficult. We couldn’t find anywhere to park for as long as we needed to complete the day hike, so we had to walk down to town, adding 45 minutes onto our already long walk time. We got a lift back from the shuttle driver, thankfully. Wanaka is maybe growing just a little too fast for its infrastructure to cope with?
Wish I Had Seen
Mountain Parrot (Kea). They are supposed to be prevalent here and there are signs asking you to refrain from feeding them. They must have read the signs and decided to forage elsewhere. They can be as much of a nuisance as monkeys/ baboons apparently, stealing food from cars in the car park.
