One day trip to Wanaka today; climbed the Roy’s Peak track and saw the famous Wanaka tree.

What a day! I reached home at about 3.30pm after a tiring day trip at Wanaka today. Why do I call it a one-day trip when I’m already home by 3.30pm? That’s because I left my home for the trip at 3.00am midnight. That’s more than 12 hours out there. Two of my friends were on board and hence there’s three of us in this trip.

We drove for a little over an hour to reach Wanaka from Queenstown. Our first stop was the famous Roy’s Peak track. It is one of the most popular one-day hikes in New Zealand. We started climbing at around 4.40am. We wanted to be able to catch the sunrise view at the lookout point and hence we started our trip that early. As it was still midnight, we were in awe of all the stars (and the moon of course!) and saw a bit of the Milky Way too.

In general, the track requires 6 hours to complete including the return trip (hence approximately, 3 1/2 hours to reach to the top and another 2 1/2 hours to get back to the base of the track). But for us we spent about 7 1/2 hours in total (that’s 1 1/2 hour more than the general time required due to us being very keen to take a lot of photos and videos).

The track is a challenging one despite its mostly well-graded track surface and wide path. Most of the track is quite steep and some of the areas are slippery due to muddy surface. Certain parts of the track at the top are also covered with thick snow/ice too (expected as it is winter now). There is a lot of cow dung too along the track. It is a 16km long journey too (close to 1300m ascent to the lookout point or 1578m all the way to the summit)! I think this is by far the most difficult and time-consuming hill track that I have ever attempted. It does require a lot of stamina and a lot of breath! Haha…

We were not able to reach the lookout point by the time sun rises (around 7.30am). Hence, we stopped at a slightly lower elevation to rest for a while and to check out the sunrise from there instead. It was still a spectacular view! After that, we continued the climb for another hour to reach the lookout point; the ultimate spot for breathtaking pictures and videos! The panoramic view over Lake Wanaka and the surrounding peaks is incredible…Usually, there would be a lot of people queueing to take photos at this lookout point. However, when we were up there today, it was only three of us most of the time and hence we got the area all to ourselves! Yay…

There is still another 30 minutes climb required to reach to the very summit of the Roy’s Peak but we do not have any more energy or determination for it. View from the summit is also very similar with the view from the lookout point. Hence, we were all satisfied to end the track at the lookout point (which many people do) and proceed to head back down.

After completing the track, we went for a quick lunch in Wanaka town and then went to check out the famous ‘That Wanaka Tree’; a lonely tree that seemingly grows directly out of the pristine waters of Lake Wanaka.

It is most likely New Zealand’s most photographed tree. It is a must-do when you are in Wanaka. After that, we just do have any more energy to check out other attractions in the town and decided to call it a day. That’s okay. We would still come back to Wanaka during our road trip later this year to check out the rest of the stuff this beautiful town has.

Gave up waiting for bus to ski today and ended up going to Bob’s Cove.

Me and my friend have originally decided to go up to the Remarkables mountain to ski this morning. That’s our usual once-in-a-week routine. However, we waited for almost 2 hours (Yes…that is a freaking 2 hours!) at the bus stop today and all the public ski buses that passed through were all full. My patience ran out and I felt so frustrated. Hence, we headed back home with no longer any mood for skiing. What a disappointment! The bus transportation is really bad.

So it’s time for a change of plan for the day. We made a quick research and chanced upon a short walking track at Bob’s Cove with quite a spectacular view. Bob’s Cove is located merely less than 20 minutes drive from Queenstown (along the Glenorchy-Queenstown Road; the same road we took to Glenorchy last week). So why not? After a quick lunch at KFC in the town, we then headed to the Bob’s Cove Track in the early afternoon. The weather was also pretty nice today (mostly sunny as opposed to cloudy condition reported in the weather forecast).

This track is pretty short and simple (3km including the loop to the lookout point and only takes 1.5 hour return). However, the last stretch of the track to the lookout point is very steep (it was quite scary for me when walking down that section…my legs were literally trembling that time). The view at the lookout point is spectacular. Besides that, the crystal clear bluish-green coloured water at the cove is so mesmerizing. Definitely time for a lot of photos again.

The scenery is just so striking and spectacular, isn’t it? We then finished the day with weekly grocery shopping at Frankton and had an awesome dinner (though pricey) with housemates at an Indian restaurant close to our home. If weather is good and I’m not lazy, then we may head up to the mountain tomorrow instead for skiing. We’ll see how it goes.