Exploring the lesser known West Wanaka

Wednesday 15 April

Autumn is well established here in the central lakes, in fact it’s turning wintry with snow on the mountaintops all around. The clear blue skies at sunrise allowed opened up a vista of snow-capped mountains to the north.

The blue skies also made it a perfect day for a cycle ride to check out the fall colouring, some of western bays and do a bit of bird spotting.

We turned right out of the gate, cycled about 4km along the road towards Mt Aspiring then turned right again onto West Wānaka Road - mostly gravelled, but fairly well graded so an easy ride.

At the end of the road we arrived at Homestead Bay where the Matukituki River empties into Lake Wānaka - the water was crystal clear and still tinged with a glacial flour aquamarine colour as it enters the lake, so beautiful.

Again, the snow-capped peaks were perfectly framed by the blue sky and offset by the autumn colours in the foreground.

We also found a track taking us further north along the Minaret Burn Track, so locked up the bikes and set off on foot. It's also a cycle track, but not one I would relish, and where the Wānaka Horse Trekking stables clearly set off on their treks - judging by the hoof prints and proliferation of horse poo. The views along the path were stunning, even though there were a few natural hazards to avoid (see note above re horse poo!), and the sun shone relentlessly. The golden leaves of the poplars at the start of the track were gorgeous and hid a few piwakawakas who were flitting madly and never still enough for a decent photo.

The natural hazards are documented above - horse poo everywhere, especially on the uphill sections! And a true “rockstacle” - a portmanteau rock obstacle which is defined as a random rock that has no business being there in the middle of a path!

Coming round the headland were amazed by the number of Honk-Wah ducks gathered together on one of the mud flats at the end of the river estuary - with more flying in all the time. Usually these ducks are territorial and travel in pairs, fighting off others to claim their pasture or hillside ownership, but dozens were hanging out here.

About 1km along the track we came to a glorious, but anonymous bay with waters so clear we could see to the bottom from up on the track as we approached. We dropped down to the beautiful bay, stopped for a snack and to watch the welcome swallows darting and dipping over the water - catching their elevenses too. All this area is a mix of DOC and private land; we were fascinated by this fencing running straight down the cliff so nothing could sneak round the gate on the pathway above!

We decided not to proceed further, but headed back as we were being pinged with incoming weather alerts. Heading back along the track - the narrow pathway, lumpy rocks, long grass & bracken reminded me of pony trekking on Dartmoor as a child ❤️. The vibrant red berries, rowan and something else I don't recognise, added to the seasonal colour. Lovely cycle ride back, and we reached Banjo before the rain hit - rain for us and snow for the mountain tops.

Had a leftovers lunch then spent a frustrating afternoon trying to bake cheese scones in a very erratic camp kitchen oven (took over 30 mins for a ten minute bake and eventually I had to use the air fryer!) then had meatballs for dinner and Louis got up to date with the new season of “The Boys”.

Had to laugh at the van who came to empty the dump station - what a brilliant strapline!

Still raining when we fell into bed… let’s see what the morning looks like!