What we have found over and over again on this trip, is that casual conversations with locals, has us going to places that were not on our original list. This was the case in Wanaka. At the top of Iron mountain yesterday, a gentleman recommended a drive out to Raspberry Flats and then when we checked into our accommodation (which turned out to be a very nice VRBO) he asked if we were planning to climb Roy’s Peak. Rob looked it up and we thought the Peak would be a challenge but we would give it a go.
Next morning the weather was raining at the start and the weather forecast predicted really high winds coming in later in the day. So we decided that Roy’s Peak was not a good idea and we would drive up to Raspberry Flats. The last 18 miles of that trip are on gravel tracks and through small fords so to say it was interesting was an under statement. When we got to the end there was the ability to hike up the valley, the scenery was stunning and we were able to see part of Mt Aspiring Glacier. But, as most of you saw from the video Rob posted on Facebook, the predicted winds were very strong and it was as much as I could do to stay on my feet. We just walked up 2.5 miles and then returned to the car. It was definitely worth the trip.
Next morning we were planning to check out of our rooms and then go and do Roy’s Peak. Wow, what an experience, here is what the Google has to say: “Roy’s Peak is a medium to hard difficult day hike. It involves a large elevation climb of 1,258 meters (4,127 feet) and in total is 16 kilometers (10 miles) long. You need to be reasonably fit to complete the track.” That’s 5 miles up and 5 miles back down. We experienced sunshine, medium winds, occasional light rain and up at the top we actually had some snow falling on us. The views were amazing, a lot of people stop about a mile before the top as there is a spot where a lot of Instagram photos are taken. But these hardy souls pushed on to the true peak. Although for the last 500 yards we took different routes. Rob did the incredibly thin ridge walk and I did the zig zag track. In total it took us 5.5 hours and I was incredibly proud of our achievement. We were pretty tired but drove on to Omarama, early dinner and then collapse into bed.
No blog would be complete, in my opinion, without some animal images
