Te Araroa 27/12/25

Day 97, Blue Lake Hut to Waiau Hut (2055)

It rained on and off all night but by the morning it had all cleared and there were wonderful views of the mountains with lots of new snow.

Morning view from the hut

Blue Lake, definitely blue this morning 

The route climbed up through the forest past the Blue Lake and steeply up to Lake Constance. These lakes have the highest water clarity in New Zealand.

Mountains behind Lake Constance 

Flooded area above Lake Constance with TA walkers

The flat area at the end of Lake Constance was awash as the rivers had all overflowed and it was all about ankle deep.

Lake Constance from the scree approach to the Waiu Pass

The final stretch to the pass

A long, steep scree slope went up to the snow line and then continued through rocks and more scree under the fresh snow with fantastic views of the mountains and lake.

TA walkers on the final stretch 

Looking back from the pass

The pictures don't do it justice but they are better than my prose!

Looking down to the Travers Valley 

A steep descent 

The pass at 1080 meters was cold and windy as expected and gave me a great view down into the Waiau valley.

Looking back to the Waiu Pass

An extremely steep descent took me down below the snow line and as the temperature increased I found a nice spot on the hillside for lunch and to sit and admire the view.

Below the steep part

More river crossing

Down then by the River Waiau which I had to cross a couple of times as well as crossing the tributaries, all of which were well swollen with the heavy rain.

Scree down to the river

After crossing a number of scree slopes that descended to the river and negotiating some sections of the path that were underwater

Keep descending 

The path arrived at a flat area where the river divided necessitating more deep fast river crossings.

And more river crossing 

There were lots of camping spots on the flat area but I wanted to get a bit further to the Waiau Hut to make it an easier day tomorrow.

Boyle Flats with the hut in sight

I arrived at the hut, all the bunks were taken but there was still some space on the floor as I was ahead of the peloton. 

Waiau Hut 

They took pity on me and I was offered a bunk but then some of the others decided to go bit further so there was a reshuffle but there were still five tents outside and about twenty million sandflies.

Probably the best day so far.