Trip Report - Wanaka weekend - 2 days - Jan 28th - 29th
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TRIP REPORT. WANAKA WEEKEND DAY ONE. LANDSBOROUGH RIVER TRACK.
Eleven vehicles set off from Donald and Shirley's shortly after 9.00am with the sky clearing and
promising another hot day we picked another 4x4 at the Hawea Dam.
Our first stop was the gates of the Haast bridge which Wikipedia tells us is a Callender-Hamilton bridge a design patented by a New Zealand engineer A M Hamilton in the 1930’s Donald provided us with a bit of local information on the site.
Our next stop was morning tea at Pleasant Flat where we were greeted by the incredible sound of thousands of crickets this camp site is known as sand fly capital but fortunately they weren’t about when we stopped.Pleasant flat is a well set up D.O.C. site with flush toilets a welcome stop before the bumpy track.
Then back across the Haast river and straight onto the Landsborough track a drive of about 20km taking about 2 hours and made easier by the efforts of Donald and friends by doing a bit of clearing during their reconnaissance.
Now this track requires special navigational instructions : Turn Left or was that Right yes some of our group got a little side tracked which provided a bit banter for a while further entertainment was provided by Steven and Anne who had to be extracted from mud twice to be fair I understand they were in an alternative vehicle on road tires so actually did well.
The track was a mix of river flat and bush with a little bit of mud for interest some of the bush corners required a bit of maneuvering to get round the scenery was amazing and made even better by Donald's informative commentary.
We stopped for lunch at the end of the track by Strutt Bluff naturally Chris took advantage of the cool river to clean off a bit of Series One dust but the sun had the rest of us looking for shade.
On the return trip we did a side excursion to an historic Rangers hut which Donald informed us had been rebuilt then treated to look old a great hut in a nice location that good some of us even looked at it twice.
On a more serious note perhaps we could avoid getting spread out by a bit more talk on the radio.
The trip back to Wanaka was uneventful with some stopping at Thunder Creek Falls and others
stopping at the Blue Pools.
Thanks Donald for another great day out you even manged to sort out the Haast weather.
A special thanks to Shirley for organizing the evening meal and thank you both for once again opening up your home to us on Saturday evening.
Day 2
Another beautiful day. 13 trucks left Wanaka heading to Arrowtown via Cardrona Range road with Owen and Pam at the rear as tail end Charlie. Passing through the Cadrona village we noted how much it is expanding with several new buildings erected since we last travelled that road.
After briefly stopping at the lookout we continued on our journey passing by TV personality Nadias Farm and on to Tobin's Track. We were sharing this track with a vast number of hikers and dog walkers and by the looks some gave us as we passed, it appeared they really did not appreciate 13 4WD vehicles being in their presence.
On into Arrowtown where we were joined by 2 more trucks. After a short toilet and smoko stop it was off to drive the track into Macetown.
We slowly meandered through the many river crossings and then branched off down a steepish track to view Scoles Tunnel. This was where the Arrow River was diverted so gold miners could work the river bed back in the 1860's.
Rejoining the Macetown Road we continued on enjoying the magical scenery. Along the way passing the dam which still provides water to many properties in the area. Up above the surrounding hills we spotted a paraglider making the most of the stunning weather. Further along there were several people at water crossings swimming and also some people dredging for gold.
Arriving at the remains of the township we stopped for lunch which was enjoyed under the shade of the trees outside the old bakehouse.
Moving on the next stop was the end of the road to view the Rich Burn Stamper.
On the return journey we made a stop at one of the water holes to enable Chris and 3 of the younger people in our group to have a swim and a cool off before continuing on back to Arrowtown.
After the debrief here we all parted ways with most returning to Wanaka.
Thanks Donald and Shirley for another very enjoyable weekend and your hospitality at the Saturday evening get together at your home.
Norm and Jackie
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