Wanaka, Queenstown & Glenorchy : between lakes and mountains

Wanaka, a wonderful hike

For our first day near Wanaka, we decided to hike up Ismuth Peak. The most famous hike around Wanaka is the Roy’s Peak, but that means hiking with hundreds of people on the same track. All of that just because they want the same picture they saw in travel guides or on Instagram. No way we are doing that! For those who know us well, or are getting to know us, if we can find an alternative to the crowds we will do so. And that is exactly what Ismuth Peak offers. Apparently the hike offers equally beautiful views but it is harder and longer, hence less people. And to make sure we will really be alone we decide to start at 7:30 am.

From the campsite we are less than 10 miles away from the beginning of the trail. On the way, we stop a few times to take pictures of the landscape. The views on Lake Wanaka and the snow capped summits are beautiful.

We arrive then at Lake Hawea, just as beautiful.

The colors of the early morning are stunning.

The car park is of course empty when we arrive. That means we will be able to enjoy our hike all by ourselves.

And so starts the 5 mile walk to reach the top.

We have barely started walking and the view is already amazing.

The sky is blue, without a cloud in sight, this looks like it’s going to be an unforgettable day. On the way up we can see Lake Hawea in the valley.

The grass is green (I guess it rains a lot…).

And we continue our way, stopping many times to turn around and admire the view.

It is still early in the morning and the sun reflects on the lake. Magnificent.

It is really hard not to stop every 5 feet to take a picture. The views are simply incredible.

We love it and it is only the beginning of the hike.

Indeed, after reaching the first peak, we continue on the other side to get to Isthmus Peak.

We still have a great view on Lake Hawea, but now we even start to see Lake Wanaka. Sublime!

This last part gets us all the way to the top at 4,550 ft above sea level. In total we climbed a little over 3,940 ft. A little hard on the legs but the reward is fantastic. And we are all alone!

When we arrive at the top we have a mind blowing view all around us. On one side Lake Wanaka and on the other Lake Hawea.

We stay a while admiring the view, taking plenty of pictures and grabbing a quick snack.

The sky is clear blue and the landscape around us is just incredible.

After this well deserved break we head back down. We can see from afar the first hikers coming up.

On the way down, even if the track is the same we seem to re-discover the landscape. We continue multiplying the picture stops (having to sort the pics for the blog was a nightmare). Now with the sun way up in the sky, the colors change completely.

We hike down in less than 2 hours. In total we walked 10.5 miles. And this first hike in the region was absolutely stunning. On top of that we were all alone for the entire way up. The dream !

Early afternoon we drive by the town of Wanaka and stop at the gas station to take a shower, do some grocery shopping and fill up our water bottles. We won’t stay any longer in this touristic town that looks pretty cute, from what we’ve seen. Unfortunately no free campsite in town, so we continue towards Queenstown on the Crown Range road. This mountain road is as winding as it is beautiful.

We stop 18 miles before reaching Queenstown to spend the night in a free campsite with an exceptional view on Queenstown.

We take out camping chairs and table and enjoy a cold beer with a view! A very nice reward after the hike and the drive today.

As the sun sets the colors are once again beautiful. We try to capture the moment. Unfortunately the pictures aren’t as beautiful as the real thing.

Express stop in Queenstown

The next day we don’t put an alarm clock on and sleep in late. And it feels great after the long day we had yesterday. Especially as the weather isn’t great when we wake up. Today we drive to Queenstown, a little down into the valley.

As we arrive in town the weather has cleared a little bit and we start a short walk in the heights of Queenstown. Apparently we should have a nice view on the city and the surroundings once at the top. The walk is almost all the way in the forest, until the very top, where indeed the view is amazing.

We stop at a first lookout, where we have a nice view on the city.

And then continue climbing a little higher, where the view is even more beautiful.

On one side there is the city of Queenstown, on the other the valley where we came from yesterday.

The sky is grey, but the sun makes it out from time to time, which makes the landscape even prettier.

We will only do a quick stop in Queenstown’s downtown, which is ten times as touristic as Wanaka. Queenstown welcomes hundreds of thousands of tourists year round, coming for outdoor activities such as bungee jumping, skiing, rafting and much more.

Crush on Glenorchy

Instead of sleeping in Queenstown, we decide to continue a little further to Glenorchy, 25 miles North Ouest of Queenstown. A lot quieter and less visited than Queenstown, this is more for us. And right from the beginning we are charmed.

It’s lookout after lookout, all offering breathtaking views.

We stop at every one of them and just love the views.

We take pictures literally every 2 seconds (once again sorting them out for the blog was a nightmare).

The color of the Wakatipu lake is incredible, so pure. And apparently the water of this lake is one of the purest in the world !

We arrive in Glenorchy after an hour and a half.

This tiny village is the gateway to the famous Routeburn track, that takes you to Milford Sound. Unfortunately we don’t have time to do this 3-4 day trek, even if we would have loved to. We stop a little while to admire the view. Before heading back towards Queenstown to find a free campsite along the lake.

And Matt finds us THE perfect spot. The prettiest we have ever stayed at so far. We can’t be any closer to the lake, and are surrounded by mountains. Amazing.

We setup our table and chairs and take advantage of the beautiful weather. With the sun shining it feels really great, and we even decide to have diner outside.

At the beginning we are bothered by sand flies (which explains why we are covered from head to toe), but they left after a while and we were able to enjoy the rest of the evening outside.

And when the sun sets, the colors become beautiful. Definitely our favorite spot so far.

We really realize how awesome this trip is. Discovering New Zealand in a van is definitely the best way. We are free and flexible to find and sleep in awesome places like this one. Despite some days of bad weather, we are truly charmed by this country. Its landscapes, so different from one another, are breathtaking. This is our last night in the region of Queenstown and Wanaka, before heading South to the Fjordland, and the unmissable Milford Sound.

Video of our stay in the region of Wanaka & Queenstown: