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48h of Queenstown

Tāhuna

By Javi Lorbada

June 24^th, 2019

Queenstown was visited on two occasions, we had this city as a hub for groceries and resting a bit, with the commodities of a bigger city in New Zealand's south island.

We, also, stayed there due to weather conditions. On our first visit, it was full rain on the forecast, so not much of outdoors activities, on top of that, trails up the hill were in bad conditions, fresh snow, strong winds, and risk of avalanches.

During the second time, we had one of the greatest weather days, allowing us to summit Ben Lomond.

Totally recommended hike which gives a 360-degree panorama of much of the Wakatipu Basin including Lake Wakatipu, The Remarkables Mountains, Cecil Peak, Walter Peak and a great view of Aspiring National Park, part of the Southern Alps.

Along the road, from Aoraki, we stopped several times, whether a viewpoint or simply outstanding scenery. In particular, I loved the Lindis Mountain Pass, winding scenic road that it's on the top 10 beautiful roads in New Zealand. Too bad we couldn't stay longer, but really, the weather didn't invite to stay.

Continued next to Kawarau River, incredible views.

Then, we visited the DOC (Conservation Information) to check what tracks were good to hike, then we went to the supermarket to get some foodies.

In the afternoon we climb Queenstown Hill, we wanted to do Ben Lomond but it was recommended due to ice, snow and strong winds. Easy, yet, steep wonderful track, especially with the autumn colors.

Once we reached the summit we enjoy the last light of the day disappear, the view was gorgeous, 360-degrees surrounded by mountains, quite impressive to see the small city from above while seeing the giant peaks around. When the light was gone we just headed down and went back to the campsite.

I did wake up early for the sunrise Moke Lake reflections, I had seen many pictures of this place with spectacular light, however, I just got the spectacular place, not the light, and it was a bit rainy.

After a morning stroll around the lake, we had breakfast, the view was truly amazing and the lake as well, surrounded by the mountains it was great and tranquil. Once we finished eating we drove towards the Mt Crichton track, there we walked for about 2h 30min, it was a fantastic track and it felt really good to walk for over 10k, walking through the forest isn't something you can do every day.

The weather was turning even worse and I tried the road to Glenorchy, it’s one of those scenic ones they have in New Zealand, breathtaking as no other, but the clouds were coming on to us and we decided to turn back, have lunch next to the lake and then headed back to Queenstown.

In Queenstown we checked weather conditions for the day after, bought some basics and rested in the campsite, it was heavily raining again, we simply hoped for better conditions on the coming days.

Around 12:30 we had lunch and get ready to go, let me share this adventure details.

I wanted to summit Ben Lomond 1748m (~5700 ft) a long time ago since we arrived in Queenstown a few days back, the weather was horrible and they advised not to, so this time weather looked good and I told Clara was going to be memorable.

We started hiking around 2 pm, the first part of the track was steep but doable, easy I would say. It took us around 45 min to arrived at the saddle, and then I realized we had started too soon.

From the saddle to the summit we had about 1h 15 min, I would say the last part was very steep, can't imagine how shitty would be with strong wind and ice, we had some ice but not slippery.

After 2h we summit Ben Lomond and the view was spectacular, nothing like this one before, 360 views if the Southern Alps, Queenstown and The Remarkables, really impressed, and Clara's highlight of New Zealand hikes.

On our way down at sunset, I realized the Milky Way will be in front of us perfectly aligned with Queenstown, so I begged Clara to stay and get the shot.

I must admit it was cold, dark and we were in the middle of the mountain, I knew the track but didn't know the right location, finally, I found a pretty spot, captured some Milky Way pictures and headed down totally in the dark.