riverECHO

A torrential downpour and freezing temps kept us bundled up indoors all day Saturday but we awoke on Sunday morning to blue skies, sunshine, and snow capped peaks in all directions. We quickly packed the car and drove to Wanaka to meet Brad and Gretchen at the Sunday Farmer’s Market and Crafts Fair. After quickly browsing the crafts, we drove out to Treble Cone, Wanaka’s local ski area and apparently the best ski area in New Zealand, to drop Brad and Smiles off at the top for a flight. BJ, Gretchen and I then continued up the road toward Rob Roy’s Glacier. What we didn’t realize was that our good ‘ol station wagon, which has acquired the name “purple people eater” because although we thought the car was quite blue it is in fact quite purple, was going to have to ford about 6 rivers. We stopped just above the first crossing, next to a handful of smaller cars that had decided not to test their luck. BJ, on the other hand, decided to test the purple people eater’s skills. He waded into the stream to measure its depth and returned to the driver’s seat and said “I am 95% positive we’ll make it.” So…we went for it and as the water started to spray up over the hood of the car I told him to speed up. Despite being a little preoccupied with the fords, the drive along the Matukituki River to the trailhead was amazing . . . surrounded by pasture land and enclosed by bright green mountains with high snowy peaks.

Our short hike to the Rob Roy Glacier was shaded by thick beech trees so we had no idea how close we were to the glacier until we were standing directly before it. Rob Roy is a hanging glacier which means that the giant ice wall at the glacier’s toe ends at a tall cliff. We didn’t witness any calving but the endless waterfalls and snowfalls to the valley floor captured our attention. We returned to Wanaka and found that Brad and Smiles had already made plans for us for the evening. We met them at a local winery called Maude, where the wine master was throwing a small barby, or BBQ, and party while the wine owners were out of town. We hung out in a giant warehouse-type-room filled with wine barrels and casks with just enough room for a ping pong table and cricket court. Although small it’s the biggest social event we have been to yet and it was a nice change to meet a few locals.

The following day, our Monday, BJ and I drove up towards Haast Pass in Mt Aspiring National Park to hike up the Makarora River. The river actually follows the main road over the pass for a while but is fed from a side canyon that has such steep walls you can only access it by climbing over a ridge from the next canyon. This was not a typical one-foot-in-front-of-the-other walk. The track either led straight up over roots and rocks covered with moss or straight down stream beds and slippery mud or just straight through the rivers and bogs themselves. After carefully removing our shoes to cross two rivers within the first 20 minutes, we gave in and tried to enjoy our soggy water logged feet for the rest of the hike. When we reached the ridge, we could immediately hear the raging waters of the Makarora below us. We quickly descended the track to meet the river and had lunch at the water’s edge in a very steep gorge. The white river gurgled and bubbled at our feet and we were careful to watch where we stepped because a simple slip into the icy water led to . . . well we couldn’t see where it led to because the water seemed to just drop through a rock chute at the end of the gorge. It was clear now why the trail could not follow the water’s edge until now. We continued up the canyon a ways until the valley widened, the river became calm, and we could see another 10 km back to a distant ridge. It was one of the warmest days we have had so far in New Zealand and we found a perfectly protected swimming hole that seemed to be calling our names for a very quick and chilly dip. We didn’t see a soul the entire day. BJ votes for the Rob Roy Glacier, but the Makarora gets my vote, without a doubt, as our best hike so far. Two days . . . two classic (in New Zealand is sounds like they are saying “clessic”) hikes.