Mountains in Queenstown and Wanaka

Flying into Queenstown, I knew it was special. From the air you can see the mountains that surround the town, I caught a glimpse of the lake below. The mountains in Queenstown feel close, friendly in their proximity, they aren't distant snow capped peaks, intimidating in their grandness.

I landed at 7:30pm, grabbed a ride into town with my new friend Connie, and checked into my hostel. Most of the hostels I've been staying in are old houses, converted into mini hotels with rooms crammed in everywhere, floorplans that make no sense, and random out buildings added on. But the Hostel in Queenstown was impeccable, perfectly designed for it's purpose. Instead of old rickety bunk beds that shook every time the other person moved there were state of the art pods with privacy shades that came down, shelves for night time necessities and electrical outlets inside. Instead of tiny old lockers to fit your valuables (if you were lucky) there were giant bag sized storage containers under the bed with custom key pad locks. I stepped into the most air conditioned room I'd been in since I left the US and smiled.

And then I went out to wander the town. About 40,000 people live there, but there must be just as many tourists, it was completely full and buzzing with activity. Streets were lined with tour companies offering all kinds of dizzying things you could jump off of, bungee, sky diving, zip lining, paragliding, it's all there. I walked down to the waterfront, where one cute restaurant after the next offered outdoor seating stretched out over the lake, with a perfect view of the mountains. To be fair it would be hard not to have a perfect view of the mountains, we were surrounded by them.

But I was looking for an early night, I was getting up the next day to climb Ben Lomond, which included 4,500 feet of elevation gain. At 8am the next morning I started my ascent, in time to catch the clouds still lingering over the lake.

Three and a half hours and three new Canadian friends later I made it to the top. The day was beautiful, sunny and mostly clear. There was a stubborn cloud on one side of the mountain, making it impossible for us to see down to the lake from the very top. But the other side was completely open, a vast view of jagged hills.

When I was planning for New Zealand I knew I wanted to go to Queenstown, but I didn't really know what I wanted to do while I was there. Based on Connie's advice I decided to take a side trip to Wanaka, about an hour and a half north. This involved renting a car and driving on the left side of the road... That seemed terrifying but I'd spoken to a few middle aged women who had expressed the same fears, saying their husbands were doing all the driving while they were in the country. I'm enough of a feminist for this to annoy me. I decided to not let my lack of a husband stand in my way of having the trip I wanted.

Surprisingly the driving didn't feel as weird as I thought it would. There is something about sitting on the opposite side of the car that makes you want to to drive on the left side of the road. It feels right to be near the center line, rather on the edge. But that didn't mean I drove fast... just ask the cars that had to suffer behind me going 15km under the speed limit on the winding roads until they could find a flat stretch to pass me. And let me tell you, there were not many flat stretches... there were mostly tight two lane roads carved into mountainsides. Inexplicably people chose to bike on these roads, literally the road since there was no room for shoulders as cars passed in both directions. Compared to that I was just peachy in my left side driving car.

My first stop in Wanaka was the Rob Roy Glaicer. This involved a 30km drive over a gravel road (honestly, my favorite drive of the trip since the sun was out, there was no traffic going the other direction, and we were forced to drive slowly due to the gravel). After my intense hike the day before it was nice to have a flatter, shorter walk today.

In terms of effort to payout ratio, this hike probably tops my list. The path wound through a forest, but after about an hour and a half it pops out right in front of a massive rock face, a glacier on top, with multiple water falls cascading down the sides. This picture doesn't do it justice, it was at least twice as wide. But it wasn't just the size, it was so peaceful with the sound of rushing water and absolutely nothing else. People sat and ate lunch, absorbing the nature.

At about 1/4th the size of Queenstown, Wanaka was a lot more chill, and definitely less commercial. It's almost a miniature of Queenstown in scenery as well, it's also situated at the end of a long lake surrounded by mountains, just a smaller lake and smaller mountains.

The next day was my second 4,500 foot elevation gain peak in three days and I could feel it. My calves were sore from climbing up Ben Lomond and my quads just above my knees were sore from climbing down. I had gotten off to a bit of a late start, it was hot, I felt slow. Sometimes you just need to know how much pain everyone else is feeling as well to make yourself feel better. I passed two people stopping to take selfies with sheep (okay so they were taking their time at every vista to take pictures, but still I passed someone!). Then I passed a group of four middle aged people. I am not a fast hiker. I'm not the fittest one on the mountain, or the youngest, or the tallest (it matters!), or a man (annoying but true). Lithe, athletic guys zip past me up the mountain all the time. Pairs of 23 year old girls pass without even a break in their conversation. I sweat the whole way up. Pretty much the only people I manage to pass are the ones that are way older than I am (which good for them for getting out there and doing it) and the ones who have never hiked before and don't realize that if you stop to take a break every time you are tired you will never get up the mountain... because here's the key to hiking, you will feel tired the whole way up, you have to learn to like it.

This hike was one of my favorites I've ever done. The view was amazing the entire time. There was no walking through a forest for a big reward at the end, the whole trail was gorgeous. On the way up we looked at the golden peaks covered in grass.

A the top we could see back towards Wanaka, a lake on either side.

And on the way back down every single view was of this pristine lake. It was the first time I've ever wished for a hike to last longer.

Overall, my Wanaka trip was a success. The next day I made my way back to Queenstown, returned the (unharmed!) car, went for a run in the park, and planned my next adventure.