New Zealand: Wanaka, Milford Sound and Queenstown

From Lake Tekapo our journey continued back through Lindis Pass on to Wanaka. On the way in we stopped at the Wanaka Lavender Farm before heading into town. A truly lovely farm with rows and rows of lavender, a few Alpacas and other animals, and lovely manicured gardens in a serene mountain setting. Definitely worth the stop. Check out their lavender honey and tea shop as well, chocolate lavender ice cream, yes please!

Wanaka Lavender Farm

At sunset we went to find #thatwanakatree. A lone willow in the shallows on the shore of Lake Wanaka overlooked by the Southern Alps, The Wanaka Tree is probably the most famous and photographed tree in all of New Zealand. Seeing the lone tree for the first time is a lot like seeing the Mona Lisa for the first time, a bit disappointing. Is that it? It’s a lot smaller than all the instragram photos let on and it is crowded with people vying for the best photo. But then you look closer and see the brush strokes, and you know why you and everyone else are there. And you learn a little history, like the tree is 100 years old and started life as a disregarded fence post but grew into the beautiful gently curved tree we see today. And suddenly you have a new appreciation for this resilient determined little tree. This spot of the lake has become a tourist hotspot but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stop by when in Wanaka, besides, a stroll along a lake front is always welcome. Beautiful and graceful year round, take your best shot and let the world of insta ooh and aah with you.

#thatwanakatree at sunrise

#thatwanakatree at sunset

The lone Wanaka tree in perspective 

We had two full days in Wanaka and chose the day with best forecast for our final big hike of the holiday, Roys Peak. This is a popular track and as it can get really hot, starting early is a good idea. It is also popular to hike in the dark and experience sunrise at the summit. We didn’t fancy walking in the dark but as it was another blistering week set out early, around 07:00, just before sunrise. We enjoyed the still cool morning with bunnies hopping about before the sun was fully up.

Roys Peak is the most challenging hike we have done to date, it was even harder than the Tongariro Alpine Crossing and some of the hikes we have done in Peru. Billed as a 16km hike, it is 8 km straight up a STEEP well-formed zig‑zag track and 8 km back down the same steep path. The change in elevation is 1200 m with the highest point at 1578 m. It took us two hours to reach the popular instragram viewpoint, about three quarters of the way up. The views of Mount Aspiring and Lake Wanaka are pretty amazing and a rest stop here was a welcome break after a tough climb. Keep going for another 30 min to the summit of Roys Peak and be rewarded with extra-amazing views! Going to the top of the peak really is worth the extra climb. Starting the walk at the bottom, we thought, wow, cool view, but just wait, it get so much better. On the way up, you can’t see where the path goes or very far ahead due to the long grass and nature of the path, adding to the challenge of the hike as you can’t see how far is left to the first viewpoint or the summit. But at the top the meandering path is clearly visible, it’s great to see the track you just walked up. Going down was brutal on the knees, it took us longer to go down than to go up. We were really glad we started early, any hotter and it would have been a real slog, but even on a hot day it is cool at the top so bring a warm layer. A challenging hike but most definitely worth it.

The popular Instagram viewpoint on the Roys Peak hike

Bron at the viewpoint

Views of Mount Aspiring from the Insta viewpoint

Lake Wanaka and Mount aspiring National Park in the background from the Insta viewpoint

The view from the summit of Roys Peak

Definitely worth going the last 30 minutes from the Insta view to the top!

Lake Wanaka, Mount Aspiring NP, the Insta viewpoint, and the path we climbed up (on the right) all visible from here.

Also at the summit of Roys Peak

Views on the way back down 

On our second full day we (read Bron) really wanted to hike the Rob Roy Glacier Track in the Mount Aspiring National Park but since a 4x4 vehicle is recommended and rain was forecast for the night before, we were advised not to go into the park with a normal rental car. We contained our fomo and enjoyed a rest day instead. It had rained overnight but cleared into a lovely day and we enjoyed a ‘short’ relaxed 10 km walk along the lake front to stretch our aching legs after the strenuous hike of the day before. A coffee date, some light shopping and a relaxing evening followed.

Views of Lake Wanaka on our relaxed 10 km stretch out walk the day after Roys Peak

A lupin on the shore front 

The next day we drove from Wanaka though Queenstown to Te Anau Downs in the Fjordland National Park. It was a beautiful clear sunny day and we were spoiled with clear mountain views in Queenstown. The road to Queenstown was pretty hair-raising with at least 5 steep downhill hairpin bends and road works along the way, not a driving experience we care to repeat in a hurry. The beauty of the rest of the day made up for it though. In Te Anau we enjoyed a walk along the edge of Lake Te Anau, an amble around the Te Anau bird sanctuary and prepared for the coming days in the NP while watching the clouds roll in.

Views of Lake Te Anau 

The day started hot and clear, we watched the clouds roll in over the Fjordland National Park

We had two days in the Fjordland National Park and planned to spend one day at Milford Sound and one day hiking. Rain was forecast for the first day and we were a bit disappointed that the only full rainy day of this trip would be on our day to Milford Sound. But in the end we think we are so fortunate that it did. We got to experience the sound in such extreme weather conditions, it was spectacular and very special. The rain started in the evening and bucketed the whole day until about 15:00. We delayed our planned start by a few hours to try time our arrival at the sound with the predicted end of the rain.

It is possible to do a day trip from Queenstown to Milford Sound, but it’s a long day with 4 hrs on the coach each way. If this is your only option for going to the sound don’t miss it, but we really wanted to be closer and chose to stay at Te Anau Downs in the Fjordland National Park. The Milford Sound Road is part of the adventure to Milford Sound itself and should in no way be overlooked. It is about a 2 hour drive from Te Anau Downs to Milford Sound and there are many interesting points to stop at and short walks along the way. It is a twisty and winding road but we didn’t find it more challenging than any of the other roads we’d already driven in New Zealand. Due to the rain and clouds, much of the mountain views were obstructed, but this also added drama and atmosphere to an already awesome location. A lot of water fell that day and we loved the pop up waterfalls everywhere on the mountains and at the sound. And the existing waterfalls were positively bursting!

Pop up waterfalls 

It was still bucketing when we arrived at the sound so we settled in at the already crowded café and played a few rounds of Saigon Monopoly Deal card game over a hot chocolate and waited for the rain to abate. It eventually did and we were so glad we came out that day! The clouds lifted and the whole bay was still with perfect reflections in the water. It was so moody but so calm. We debated doing a cruise that day but decided to book for the next day. We commented on the rain and the lady booking our cruise tickets said it was a light rainy day for the sound. Milford Sound receives about 6800 mm of rain a year and 250 mm of rain can fall in a 24 hr period. That is a LOT of water. 

Milford Sound

After enjoying the moody scenes of the bay, we headed back on to the road for some of the stops we had missed in the rain. Favourite stops that day were the chasm, the Lake Marian Track and many impressive mountain viewpoints. The chasm was formed by the Cleddau River bringing hard rock into a narrow rocky valley carving out this display of waterfalls and swirling potholes in the rainforest. It reminded us of the Trummelbachfalle, the corkscrew waterfall in the mountains in Switzerland. The water was absolutely raging that day, it was a powerful sight and reminder of the strength of nature. It was hard to capture the chasm in one photo, you also lose the power of the sound of the rushing water and the force of the spray in a photo. We didn’t make it all the way to Lake Marian as it is a 3 hour hike and it was already late in the day, but enjoyed about an hours return walk on the track in the forest next to a pretty fast flowing river. On a non-rainy day it is probably much calmer. There is a set of rapids and small waterfalls but they didn’t stand out especially due to the volume of water that day. It was a great walk though and if we had more time it we would have completed the track to the lake. Heading back to Te Anau Downs we stopped at many impressive viewpoints including just after the Homer Tunnel where got to enjoy the antics of the Kea parrot, Mirror Lakes and Monkey Creek.

A raging waterfall on the Milford Sound Road

Monkey Creek 

Views at Monkey Creek

The river on the Lake Marian Track

Beautiful Forrest on the Lake Marian Track

The cheeky but clever Kea Parrot

Mirror Lakes, a stop on the Milford Road

For our second day we really wanted to do one of the many day hikes in the area but chose to spend it in Milford Sound again and were really glad we did as the two days were so different from each other. The water levels had abated overnight and many of the pop-up waterfalls had disappeared. We stopped at the chasm again and it was so calm compared to the previous day. There was still a fair amount of cloud about and a steady breeze so Milford Sound was not as still as the day before. It was completely different and we feel so privileged to have experienced a taste of the extremes of this area.

We debated whether to do a cruise or not but decided to do one and glad we did it on the second day. There are a few operators to choose from and many seem to cater for those short on time. We chose the Encounter Nature Tour with Southern Discoveries and were happy we went with a longer cruise and smaller boat experience. The commentary was excellent and we got very close to many of the main sights of the sound and also went out into the Tasman Sea, right under a waterfall and tasted pure glacier water from another waterfall. We added the optional stop at the Underwater Observatory where we saw black coral and enjoyed the often unseen world of the sound below the surface. All in all a very special two days at the sound.

Cruising on the Milford Sound

Black Coral at the Underwater Observatory 

And then suddenly it was the last full day of the holiday. We travelled back to Queenstown and enjoyed an afternoon exploring the town and admiring the aptly named Remarkables mountain range overlooking Lake Wakatipu. It was another hot day and we enjoyed a lovely long walk along the shorefront. And then it was time for the final bag pack and early night before an early start. It was a long travel day with three flights to get back to HCMC but it was smooth and we made it safe and sound.

Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown with the Remarkables in the background

Late afternoon with The Remarkables

Thank you New Zealand! 

We had a fabulous time and hope to be back one day!