Trip Reports - Wanaka weekend January 2022
Saturday 29 January - Day 1.
16 vehicles met up at Donald's house in Wanaka. It was a nice sunny day.
We travelled along sealed roads before turning off onto the very dusty Jolly Rd. Continuing along onto Deep Creek Rd and Phillips Rd, we then turned onto Lindis Pass - Tarras Rd, then turned onto Cluden Creek Rd where we met 3 more vehicles.
We all caught up together down the road just before fording the Lindis River.
The road was very bumpy, rocky and dusty. We travelled uphill and carried on, stopping at the Cluden Reserve beside the Cluden Stream, for morning tea.
We drove onto a track which went into the Lauder Basin Conservation Area. The landscape was very dry with lupins and prickly bushes. The road uphill was rough with ruts. There were The Tussocks and Spaniards plants alongside.
We stopped to admire the view, the mountain range which included The Remarkables, Rob Roy, Mt Earnslaw, Mt Avalanche, Mt Aspiring, Mt Pollux, the head of Lake Ohau, the Hopkins Valley, Mt St Bathan's.
When we stopped for lunch we still had the view of the mountains on one side and on the other side part of the Maniototo area and down to the Manuherikia River. We could also see over to the Kakanui Mountains and Mt Dasher. There were interesting large rock formations. We were 1630 metres above sea level.
The landscape on the way down was a bit barren but there were some lovely little white flowers.
We drove down off the track onto Lauder Station Rd. We drove along St Bathans Loop Rd, Mee Rd, Beck's School Rd, Glassford Rd then onto Thompson's Gorge Rd where we stopped for afternoon tea.
Then we continued along, going through 21 gates, of which 19 had to be opened so we all got a turn..
Once we got back onto sealed roads, the majority of us made our way back to Wanaka.
Thanks to our trip leader Donald for a great day out.
Michelle Robertson
Trip Report – Mt Aspiring Hut – Sunday 30th January 2022
(Day 2 of Donald and Shirley Taylor’s ‘Wanaka Weekend’)
We all met bright and early, 9am, at the Taylor residence for our trip briefing; and to be regaled by Donald with another funny story to set the mood for the day.
15 vehicles headed off, through Wanaka and up the Wanaka – Mt Aspiring Rd, past the Treble Cone ski field, and onto a very dusty gravel road into Mt Aspiring Station.
We stopped to give the station manager a gift and then carried on up the valley towards Mt Aspiring.
After a short while we came to the roads end at Raspberry Creek carpark. A sign read ‘No Vehicles Beyond This Point’. But we took as much notice of this sign as Brian Tamaki does of Jacinda’s lockdowns! So ignoring the sign we carried on through, onto a real 4wd track. (Of course, Donald had obtained permission from Mt Aspiring Station)
The views became more spectacular as we made our way further up the Matukituki river. After a brief stop for morning tea, we carried on, almost to the Mt Aspiring Hut where another gate blocked any further vehicle access onto DOC land.
Even Donald couldn’t charm, or bribe, DOC to let us through and so some of us decided to carry on, on foot, and walk the final 2 or 3 kilometres to the Hut. It was a very pleasant walk to a tidy well-presented hut in a stunning location, clearly being enjoyed by lots of trampers.
It was about an hour’s walk to the hut and back to the vehicles where it was time for lunch; a very scenic lunch next to the river with the mountains all around us.
On our way back Donald took us on an interesting side trip across the Matukituki river and up to Snowy creek where, in his younger days, which he assured us wasn’t that long ago, he was involved in extracting the local stone from the riverbed.
We made it back to Wanaka about 5pm, then to Speights Ale House for drinks and dinner to round off a very enjoyable and social weekend. Thankyou to Donald and Shirley for organising and we hope to do it all again next year.
Anton & Ruth Perham
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