Grandview Mountain - Grandview Creek Conservation Area

August 3, 2013

A gloomy day but no excuse to take a hike up one of the local hills in Hawea. The tramp starts at the end of Nook Rd, just past the now sadly closed Nook Garden Nursery. Following the Grandview creek the steady going farm track passes through shrub and pastrol lands until the upper tussocklands are reached and Grandview Mountain comes into view. After weaving round the farm track a quick hop over the fence leads for a direct finish upto Grandview Mountain at 1398m. On a sunny day i'm sure 'Grandviews' can be seen for miles, but with snow in the air my views were limited to grandcloudy tops! Instead of retracing steps I opted for the path down through the lands owned by Lake Hawea Station, i didn't think they'd mind...afterall the station is managed by a generation of Rowley's! Crew: Lee. 4hr return. 3rd August 2013.

Fellow Rowley's living on the door step!

Boating Lake Wanaka

April 7, 2013

Finally we bought a boat; 5m 1978 Fi-glass Lightning, a classy NZ made motorboat fit for any waters. We've not named her yet but shes going to be perfect for exploring lakes, seas and fjords with ample of fishing, towing and tramping to base from.

Figured we now need to start a boating section! this post is based on our local Lake, Lake Wanaka, just a minutes walk from the house. There are several launching spots, the Boat Ramp at the Marina being the most accessible. Lake Wanaka has to be one of the more interesting lakes to boat due to several islands and peninsulas to weave around and explore. Mao Waho is one of the more popular islands with a 30min walk that takes you to a lookout point to see the 'Lake within a Lake' Many people use Wanaka for recreational activities such as wake boarding, biscuiting, water skiing and of course fishing for trout and salmon. Here are a selection of photos from boating on Lake Wanaka.

Gillespie Pass Circuit - Mount Aspiring National Park

March 31, 2013

The weather wasn't looking brill but we decided to make the most of the Easter break and head out to walk the Gillespie Pass track, an excellent 58km, three day round trip through river valleys, native forests and spectacular mountain scenery. There are numerous huts to stay at along the way such as Young and Siberia Huts but, even with the iffy weather, we decided to camp out.

We left Makarora mid morning, leaving the car in the 'Trampers Car Park' opposite the visitor centre. It took us 1 hour from the visitor centre to reach the start of the track after crossing the Makarora River. The walk up the Young valley is well trodden with a few steep sections, after 5 hours we reached the Young hut, a quick water stop we carried on for another hour to reach our camping spot at the head of the Young Valley, a stunning basin surrounded by towering rock faces.

After a wet night we awoke to waterfalls plummeting down from the tops of the basin, a great backdrop as we ate breakfast. We climbed the steep pass eventually reaching the saddle, unfortunately we were not rewarded with spectacular view as far as the eye could see but rather dramatic misty mountain top. We continued down the other side to reach the pleasant flats of the Siberia Valley and eventually Siberia hut 5 hours after leaving camp.

By this point we had decided to walk out rather than spend another night in the incoming bad weather, we knew we were in for a long day the walk out down the Wilkin River took 5 hours from Siberia Hut, thankfully we skipped alot of the rough track through the lower valley forest by walking along the river bed.

By the time we reached the Makarora river the light was fading but we managed to cross in the nick of time. Emma stayed put while I took the 4.5km jog in the dark with soggy boots to the car. Lee & Emma. 30th-31st March 2013.

Wilkin Valley. This is the Jet boat drop off/Pick up point

End of a long day. We could hardly walk once we got home

Alexandra to Clyde Anniversary River Track

March 25, 2013

If its wet in Wanaka chances are Central Otago will be dry so we decide to head out for a pleasant bike ride and abit of geocaching along the Anniversary River Track. The track leaves Alexandra and follows the Clutha River under a canopy of willows with numerous bridges and boardwalks to cross. Along the way we passed the historic Earnscleugh Tailings, the reminiscence of old gold dredging in the early 1900's. After a couple of successful geocache finds we return from Clyde along the start of the Central Otago Rail Trail. 2-3 hours. 22km. Lee & Emma. March 25th 2013

Birchwood Road 4WD & Canyon Creek Track - Ahuriri Conservation Park

March 16, 2013

Birchwood Road is a straight forward gravel track up the Ahuriri Valley, the first 21Km to the Park Boundary is easy 2WD access from this point a sign states the road as being 4WD. Although a little more rutted its still a straight forward track with a few ford and landslip crossings. 1 hour. 34km

From the road end I followed the walking track up over Canyon Creek through the beech forests and to the upper valley waterfalls, along the way I explored Canyon Creek for a possible future descent. 3-4h return. 16th March 2013

Treble Cone Paragliding

March 4, 2013

My local site, Treble Cone is a stunning place to fly and a favorite with many due to the open and uncontrolled airspace making excellent XC flying, its not uncommon to see people landing in Pembroke Park, in the heart of Wanaka, after flying for several hours from Treble Cone. There are also a bunch of local Speed wing pilots who fly the site. The main take off is Pub Corner and in winter many pilots catch the main ski lift up and fly form the 'Look out Point'. The main landing area is the lower car park at the entrance to Treble Cone Road. The waterfalls are great to fly over, there's a video at the end of this post showing a typical winters ski and fly day up TC. Enjoy

http://youtu.be/tqpkYSLu_xE

Crown Terrace Paragliding

March 4, 2013

Crown Terrace is a popular spot with locals, it holds good soaring when conditions are right and is fun flying above the road as people stare up at you. Access is off the Crown Range Road just after the 'Lookout' down a gravel road on the right. Westley wind is the ideal take off direction, top landings are possible otherwise landing sites are farmers field to the left of the quarry or reserve land down Whitechapel Road.

Coronet Peak Paragliding

March 4, 2013

Coronet Peak in Queenstown is one of the most accessible flying sites in New Zealand, its also a popular commercial flying site, with several companies offering tandem flights. For me it was my proving ground, i learnt to fly here with Lisa form Extreme Air. The hub of the site is the Flight Park (landing Area) here you'll find other pilots to chat and car share with. The weather is generally pretty stable and you'll find people flying here all year round.

Below are a selection a photos from Coronet Peak:

Hike up the ski slopes. Kevin & Dave. March '12

West Manuherikia 4WD Track

March 2, 2013

The West and East Manuherikia tracks are within Oteake Conservation Area, both can be done as a loop track from either St Bathans or Omarama. We were traveling in one direction from St Bathans to Omarama so we only drove the West track.

St Bathans is well worth the stop the town has very nice charm and character, in its heyday it was a bustling community built upon the gold rush, the main attraction of the town is the Blue Lake, the 68m deep man made lake was formed from old sluicing works. Its now a wonderful swimming spot, one we couldn't resist.

After our swim we headed along the Hawkdun Runs Road to the start of our track. The West Manuherikia is a little bit more serious than the East as it has more river crossing and the roads up and down the saddle are narrow and exposed, but we still found the drive a breeze, albeit bumpy! The river crossing where simple but we can imagine they become alot more serious in high water. Along the way we stopped off at the two huts Boundary Creek Hut and Top Hut, both very nice huts but we favored the Top Hut that little bit more.

From the Top Hut we headed up the saddle to be confronted with spectacular views out towards Lake Ohau, Ahuriri River and Southern Alps from here the exposed track lead us down onto Broken Hut road for our return trip back to Wanaka over Lindis Pass. West Manuherikia Track 28km. 2 hours. Crew: Lee & Sam. 2/3/13

Sam after being stood on the back for the descent!

Mt Alta - Mt Alta Conservation Area

February 17, 2013

Keen to summit a local 2000m peak we headed for Mt Alta, one of the highest peaks in the lower Matukituki Valley. Permission granted from West Wanaka we took the 40 minute drive along the 4wd farm track to the foot of Round Hill Spur. Leaving the Valley floor at 800am we continued up the well defined farm track until we reached a point where a direct push up the steep tussock slopes would bring us to the ridge. Another 2 hours followed as we weaved through the lose rock to finally reach our goal and our rewarding views into the heart of the National Park and Lake Wanaka. Heading for a more direct descent, along with some sneaky scree running, we stumbled back at the truck 4 hours later at 630pm, exhausted. 16 February 2013

Our Route 10 hours

Keas

Steep Tussock Slopes

Buchanan Peaks in the Background

Finally on the Ridge Line

First glimpse of Mt Alta

Ridge to Summit

Loose Rock!

Summit

M o o o o !