A Dangerous Business

Date: 15th February 2024

Start: Lake Hawea (km 2590.8)

End: Wanaka (km 2615.8)

Distance Travelled: 25 km

Total Distance Completed: 2462.3 km

Song Currently Stuck in Head: Place In This World by Michael W Smith

Thoughts on the Doughnuts in Albert Town: yes

Hmm, maybe this bed is too comfortable. I hope I’m able to sleep on my air mattress after this. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there, in the meantime there’s a proper coffee to be had in the general store. That marked the start of my walk into Wanaka, joined today by my younger sibling Eli. A long distance for a pair of legs not used to the demands of Te Araroa, but as it was all flat neither of us was concerned that they wouldn’t make it.

Mum and dad saw us to the edge of town and onto the gravel pathway that would take us all the way to what I’m going to call Little Queenstown; a ski town built around tourism but much more affordable than its big brother.

Eli and I picked off where we left yesterday, talking and bantering the whole way to Wanaka. Occasionally a bit of rain would come through to spoil the party, but never too much to make the hike miserable. To my surprise, we were going pretty quickly too, and without too much effort. The kilometres raced by, following the Hawea River along its course.

There was quite a bit of traffic along the path today, mostly local cyclists going in between the two lakes. We only met one TA hiker that morning, everyone else presumably having started earlier than us. Approaching Albert Town, our path took us across a swing bridge that clearly was designed to carry more than just the occasional tramper.

Reaching Albert Town was an important milestone on today’s journey. Not just because it marked the halfway point, but because of Pembroke Patisserie and the goods that it sells. Comments on Far Out were raving about it, particularly their doughnuts. That would be our lunch stop for today. I’ll spare you the details and just say that it lived up to the hype. Definitely worth stopping by if you’re on your way in or out of Wanaka.

Speaking of Wanaka, our path was now leading straight for Lake Wanaka, following the bends of the Clutha River, the longest in the South Island.

Rain came and went all afternoon, broken up by periods of sunshine. The only consistent part of the weather was the wind, which maintained a fresh gust all day. Both Eli and myself were beginning to tire through this section, brought about either by the distance of the day itself or a post-doughnut coma. At least the pathway maintained its flat profile as we approached the township, going past one of two disc golf courses in Wanaka that I sadly didn’t have time to try out.

I didn’t spend long in Wanaka itself, just doing a quick resupply for the next section to Queenstown before getting a lift back to Lake Hawea. We didn’t spend long there either, just enough time to shower and freshen up before going back to Wanaka to celebrate Matt’s birthday at a steakhouse. Yes, my family had somehow gotten an invite, presumably thanks to the trail magic they bestowed on Matt yesterday. Also joining us were Melly’s friends that had accompanied her in Hanmer Springs and Zilla. It may have well been the best steak I’ve had on trail. Some of our group went with the stonegrill option, where you get to cook the meat to your liking on a heated stone. Looks like fun, but I didn’t trust myself to not overcook it.

Overall it was a lovely evening and it was really nice for my family to get to meet my trail family. Tomorrow I’ll be back with the latter, leaving Wanaka and diving onto the Motatapu Track, another trail with a bit of infamy behind it. But, it’s on the shorter side, meaning I’m only 4 days away from the tourist haven of Queenstown. Here’s hoping I have enough impulse control to not empty my bank account when I get there.