Trek for the Stars 2024 - Southern Alps

21/04/2024

Day 6 - Our final day on this fabulous trek.

We started out from Wanaka at the usual time of 8:30am after breakfast at the Oakridge Resort.

It was a spectacular drive along the Crown Range route, through Lisa’s Pass, Cardrona and Arrowtown.

We arrived in Queenstown after about an hour, and parked at the Gondola. We took this up to the start of Ben Lomond track which was about 800m elevation and began our steep climb.

Ben Lomond track is a challenging track reaching up to 1438m elevation to the saddle. It’s a 6-8 hour round walk if you get to the summit.

The first segment began at the Douglas fir stands and took us through lots of alpine tussocks and shrubs.

The views were absolutely magnificent and we were once again blessed with another beautiful sunny Autumn day.

Some of us went onto the summit and others were happy with reaching the saddle. Either way, it was a slow and steady day climbing about above Queenstown.

We were all pretty tired by the end of a fantastic week exploring this wonderful country.

21/04/2024

…and down we go. 😂

20/04/2024

Up we go!

20/04/2024

Day 5 - We set off from Lake Ohau around 8:30am on a 3 hour drive to Wanaka. We stopped at the Wrinkly Rams at Omarama to pick up our lunch for the day and a little coffee break. We’ve decided the bakeries over here are particularly good! Sampling the local delicacies is becoming a bit of a habit now!

It was a beautiful drive through the Waitaki region. Some of us took the opportunity for a little nap..

We reached Wānaka around lunch time for a toilet stop then headed on through to the Diamond Lake Conservation Area to start our walk for the day.

The Diamond Lake Conservation Area's landscape has been carved by Ice Age glaciers, with stands of native forest and shrubland nestling into bluff systems.

We took around 4 hours to do the Rocky Mountain track up to the 775m summit and the Diamond Lake loop. There were some pretty steep (and muddy) sections with a few mountain goat trails! I think it was around 10km all up, but my Pacer app says 13km… go figure.

The panoramic views over Lake Wānaka, Southern Alps/Kā Tiritiri o te Moana and Mount Aspiring/Tititea were absolutely amazing. We were so lucky to have another day of stunning weather to accomplish this.

We stayed in Wanaka for the night after a our last team dinner at a local pub in town.

19/04/2024

19/04/2024

19/04/2024

19/04/2024

19/04/2024

Day 4 was a little easier than yesterday.

We woke to a spectacular sunrise on our final morning in Mount Cook. It was a bit cloudy and windy with some showers, and we were pretty happy we weren’t starting the Mueller Track again!

After breakfast we headed to the Tasman Valley for a short walk around where the glacier once was. The landscape was so dramatic and wild, with lots of pretty alpine vegetation.

After exploring this area we drove to Lake Pukaki where some of us had a dip in the glacial waters! It was the first time a couple had ever done something like this, so it was a little bit exciting! The rocks on the bottom prices to be a bit difficult for all of us, especially after our feet were still recovering from yesterday’s efforts.

Our guides Chris and Hannah had prepared a little picnic of hot tea and biscuits for us after our cold plunge. So cute!

After this, we headed to Twizel to collect our lunch and then onto Lake Ohau, where we would be staying for the night. We parked the bus about 6km away from the lodge and headed out on the Tarnbrae Teack up to Freehold Creek and back. We covered approximately 17km all up today.

When we finally reached the lodge, some of us headed straight to the outdoor hot tub to ease a few sore muscles!

18/04/2024

Tasman Valley walk.

18/04/2024

18/04/2024

We’re leaving Aoraki National Park! 😢