In New Zealand, where every view can blow your mind, maybe we should focus on accessibility.
There are trains but mainly for cargoes, not reaching those tourist spots. So basically you gotta rent a car, take tours or pick wise.
Wanaka
about 1 hour drive from Queenstown, is a cozy little town by Lake Wanaka. Here, you can stay at YHA right in the town center at a reasonable price (comparing to Queenstown), getting a little cabin as for twin room and having a lobby facing the lake.
From there, you can reach a famous ‘instagram spot’ in 20 min walk or 5 min drive.
So it’s a tree. And a lot of tourists. Doesn’t seem to be special with my #nofilter version though.
Roy’s Peak
5 min drive from the tree, you can see “Roy’s Peak Track Parking”. Remember to grab the last toilet chance near parking!
The whole track is an easy gentle slope, 2-3 hours to the lookout, plus 20 min to the peak. I gave up the peak as the sun is getting down, and pics taken on the summit is not that appealing without the drone. Bring a jacket or maybe raincoat in case.
Sheep keeps staring at me for the first 3 sec then runs away. There are fences and ladders (just a few steps) to cross over gates, as the whole mountain is a huge breeding ground for the sheep.
There are mainly 2 concerns for this walk – weather and tracking. It’s a huge zig-zag across the range, sometimes there are showers, sometimes it’s freezing in the shadow, sometimes I’m dried out by the wind.
There are no signs on the whole walk. I’ve been asked for nearly 10 times whether this is the right way, and there are people giving up coz they have no idea where they are heading. The zig-zag is blocking the goal, you can’t really see the summit from the bottom, and there are fences that you’re not sure if you can cross.
Follow the footsteps, and try to stay on the main route.
You can’t see the lookout until you reach it, I was thinking of give up and head down a few sec before. There is a narrow path to get out and take the instagram pic, but you may have to wait for a few minutes. There are people taking wedding pics, people who climb out coz of the height and wind (me)… people tend to wait at the wider middle as only 1-2 can stand at the edge on the same time.
It’s not that safe, to be honest. It was so windy that I (>50 kg) can merely stand. Take care of your children and avoid stupid camera postures. Spare some time coz you have to get down from the same route.
It’s not an OMG! view, but totally worth it as for an easy 2-hour-walk 5 min drive from town.
Norms & Weirdos 