Motatapu
22nd – 25th April 2017
As the Motatapu Track starts near Glendhu Bay, Wanaka and exits at Arrowtown some sort of transport needs to be arranged to return to your own vehicle. We were very fortunate to have a generous offer from friends, Pip and Bob from Arrowtown to organise this for us. Pip then accompanied the six of us on our tramp starting at the carpark near Glendhu Bay.
On Saturday after an early lunch we set off following the Fern Burn Stream in fine sunny weather.
A gentle climb took us through beech forest and into The Stack Conservation Area, across a bridge and onto undulating terrain before a sidle to the Fern Burn Hut arriving at mid afternoon. Tents were erected to take the overflow from the 12 bunk hut with Tim Russell, Betty and family arriving to swell the numbers to 26 for the night.
With another fine day we left at 8am and immediately started climbing to Jack Hall’s Saddle at 1275 mtrs. A long steep descent of 400mtrs took us down to a stream where we refilled water bottles and had a well earned snack before attacking another climb up on open tussock country to the Highland Creek Hut arriving at lunchtime. Two falcons were observed flying by.
A relaxing afternoon sitting in the sun on the hut veranda was had by all. One other tramper arrived for the night so there was plenty of room in the hut.
The following morning we had quite a distance to tramp and two major hill climbs and descents for the day so we left, once again in fine weather at 7.30am. After crossing the Highland Creek we scaled up a steep ridge accompanied by the roaring of a stag although we were unable to sight it. Another steep descent saw us lose the 450mts that we had just gained to arrive at a stand of native bush where we stopped for a snack and refilled water bottles from the stream. A zig zag and then a long haul up a fence line saw us passing below Knuckle Peak (Maurice dropped his pack and climbed the peak) and onto a saddle with views of Lake Wanaka and down to the green pastures of the Motatapu Valley where a bike race takes place each year. It was then all downhill firstly following a fenceline on a ridge and then open tussock country to the Roses Hut after an 7-8 hour day covering 11 kms.
The following day dawned fine and sunny as we climbed up once again on an old packhorse track to the Roses Saddle at 1270mtrs followed by a sidle and then downhill to the Arrow River. The sight of a large digger parked on the riverbank left us wondering how it could have got there to mine gold at a claim.
With many crossings and a river wade through a gorge knee deep at times in the Arrow River, we emerged out at Macetown with cold wet feet. However we were lucky as the flows were considered to be low at the time.
Lunch was taken near the restored bakery at Macetown. The Autumn colours of the many trees surrounding the area were magnificent and a photographers dream.
A 14kms plod down the 4WD road and crossing the Arrow River a few more times saw us at Arrowtown at 4pm. We met many cyclists, vehicles and a few walkers on our way. For the last section of the walk we followed a pipeline and on a well formed walking track. The sound of bagpipes greeted us as we emerged onto the main street in Arrowtown. Pip and Bob invited us to their place for a cuppa before we left for home, stopping in Cromwell for food on the way.
Thanks to Bronwyn, Colin, John, Mark, Maurice and Pip for their company on a challenging but very enjoyable tramp of 48kms.
Phyllis
