Te Araroa 23/01/26

Day 124, Lake Middleton to Ahururi River East Branch (2552)

It rained for a while last night but it had stopped by morning although the clouds were low and black.

Lake Ohau

The weather forecast was for rain today but the cloud lifted and it turned into a beautiful day.

Climbing away from Lake Ohau 

The trail followed the lake shore for a while before heading for the hills and climbing up to the Freehold Creek and following it all the way up to some swampy ground at 1400 meters .

Stream crossing with dry feet 

For a change the path stayed clear of the river and my feet stayed dry until the top.

Looking back to the lake from above the treeline 

There were a couple of river crossings on the way down until I reached the wide valley and some great walking on the dry stony ground.

Back to the river crossings

I met a few people coming the other way who had all successfully crossed the Ahuriri River so I'm more hopeful for tomorrow's crossing than I had been.

Steep scree and water crossings

The sky was getting darker as I approached my proposed campsite and I hoped that I would have time to get the tent up and dried before anything happened.

Down to flatter ground 

I found a nice spot and got the tent pitched and it didn't take too long to dry so I could get everything sorted inside.

There must be somewhere to camp down here

About ten minutes later there were some big spots of rain which was the start of a thunderstorm. I hope it doesn't put the river up too much.

Te Araroa 22/01/26

Day 123, Twizel to Lake Middleton Campsite (2527)

For some unknown reason I managed to delete the notes that I had made for today and trying to recreate them four days later is very difficult, which is why I need to do it every day, but here goes.

Motel in the morning 

The day started with pouring rain and I didn't rush to get going but by the time I got going it had almost stopped

The Musterers Café 

There was a cafe open as I left the town and as I couldn't break my rule of never passing open café I had to go in to sample the wares.

Path beside the road 

The route followed the road out of Twizel on a good track until reaching Lake Ruataniwha and more salmon farms.

Salmon farms 

Lake Ruuataniwha is the only man-made lake among all the interconnected power generating lakes in the Mackenzie Basin.

Rowing eights on Lake Ruataniwha 

Ruataniwha is also important for rowing and there were several boats out training as I walked up the lake shore on a gravel road.

Gravel road by the river 

Eventually I reached the end of the lake but the road continued beside the Ohau River to the lake of the same name. The weather steadily improved and by the time I had reached Lake Ohau there was sunshine.

Lake Ohau 

Path by Lake Ohau 

There was a good path then that followed the lakeside to the road which I walked to Lake Middleton and it's campsite.

Maori statue by the lake 

The view north up Lake Ohau 

The view South 

I actually camped beside Lake Ohau on the opposite side of the road as there were a lot of family tents and speed boats at the proper campsite and it was more peaceful where I was.

Peaceful camp spot 

It started to rain just as I was about to make dinner so I cooked and dined in the tent.

Te Araroa 21/01/26

Day 122, Tekapo to Twizel (2498)

The morning started bright but by the time my bike arrived it had started to drizzle.

Lake Tekapo in the morning 

I got the bike adjusted to fit and cycled into the village with the intention of getting a cup of coffee before starting. Two cafes were open and a coffee stall but there were about ten people queueing at each one, it wasn't that important so I carried on.

Tekapo power station and the start of the canal

The cycle path / trail dropped down to the hydro power station (Tekapo A) where the spillway is a huge canal that takes the water on to Lake Pukaki.

Road beside the canal

The rain got heavier as I cycled along the long road beside the canal and I was very happy not to be walking. I passed Megan and Eve, who I hadn't seen for ages, and Pete and Dean. I'm not sure how far they were planning for today.

Feeding salmon at the farm 

The rain stopped as I went past a salmon farm in the canal, unusual, I have only seen salmon farms in the sea before.

Power station on Lake Pukaki

At the end of the canal the water is piped to another power station and the road drops steeply to Lake Pukaki. I chickened out at 50 kph and applied the brakes.

Hired bike and Lake Pukaki 

I was told that it was an extremely unusual summer in that the lakes are all full and the grass is green, I must have brought the rain with me.

Lake Pukaki spillway 

The vibrant turquoise-blue color which comes from glacial flour, which are super-fine rock particles ground down by glaciers in the Southern Alps and suspended in the water, was not as apparent today with the grey sky but still obvious.

Twizel flats

The cycle / walking track continued around Lake Pukaki and across the spillway, that was spilling a lot of water, before heading across the Twizel Flats to the village.

The end of the flats

Twizel was built as a camp for the hydro scheme workers in the nineteen fifties and was supposed to be demolished when they were completed but it was reprived.

Ministry of Works machines and a section of the feed pipe for Tekapo B

There is a collection of old Ministry of Works machines on the green as you approach.

Scraper

I left the bike at the hire center, collected my pack and walked to the very nice Motel room that I had booked. Again everywhere had no vacancy signs up, holiday season but not holiday weather.

Grader

A resupply trip to the Four Square supermarket, clothes washed in the machine in my room and I'm all set for the next few days.

Te Araroa 20/01/26

Day 121, Camp Stream Hut to Tekapo (2444)

It was cold last night but there was no frost in the morning, a pleasant night in the hut.

Leaving Camp Stream Hut 

A foot spa in the morning 

My feet didn't stay dry for long, I carefully avoided the boggy bits but then had to wade the river before climbing up to a plateau that I walked across for about fifteen kilometers.

Last good views of Mount Cook 

The views were not like yesterday, the mountains were cloudy and further away but I really enjoyed it not too hot or cold and the breeze behind me.

Looking back to the first part of the walk 

It was a lovely, level walk, dry ground and an easy trail to follow, ideal walking.

Amazing 

A few clouds made it interesting 

Golden Speargrass, the sharpest plant I have ever come across 

Good path on the plateau 

Lake Tekapo looking blue again

All good things come to an end though and I descended to the long gravel road to Tekapo.

Fourteen kilometers of gravel was plenty and I was happy to see Tekapo getting closer. I wasn't prepared for the number of campervans and people though, it is obviously a major tourist attraction and peak holiday season.

The long, long gravel road 

I had managed to book an overpriced bed in the hostel, which was full like most of the other even more overpriced accomodations.

Looking back wistfully to the hills 

The view of the lake from the hostel was good despite the parked campers but the village itself is really just a car park with tourist shops and cafes.

I organized a bike to ride the trail to Twizel tomorrow, it will make a change from walking.

Evening light over Lake Tekapo 

And a cloud on the hill

It was a fine night and there were some good pictures of the Aurora Borealis taken here but I had gone to bed and nobody saw anything special with the naked eye anyway.

Picture taken from Tekapo with the comment: 'sadly not this bright to the naked eye'