New Zealand: Roy's Peak Track

Based in Wanaka, after hitchhiking to the trailhead, we ascended on the Roy's Peak Track. Per our plan, we stopped at the Lookout after 1000 meters (~3,300 ft) of elevation gain, and didn't continue to the summit. The Lookout seems to be a popular Instagram spot. I think Ben Lomond is just as worthy if not more. The trail on this one is super wide, and mostly through grazing land. I wonder why we didn't see any mountain bikers as we did on Ben Lomond - not challenging enough for them?

Wanaka is a small tourist town at the southern end of Lake Wanaka, 4th largest in NZ, what I imagine Queenstown was like before it got on steroids. If it were not for our hike, I realized we could have bused through Wanaka without spending the night.

We hitched a ride the 8kms to the trailhead, and set out upwards with the moon setting behind Roy's Peak.


As we were headed up the wide track, many people were headed down after catching sunrise at the Lookout and Summit. For us it's up, up, up.










Looking down to the town of Wanaka on the bay with the beach at right.


The views of Lake Wanaka got better as we ascended, and the distant lakes and snow-capped mountains were revealed.






Finally we reached the Instagram Lookout. Not so crowded and soon it was our turn for photos.










We found a lunch spot above the Lookout. Amazing!


On the way down we watched a paraglider (with green sail) land beyond the car park.


This Mouth Party Hazy Pale Ale tasted pretty good after a long day of ascending and descending.


The very nice (w/free coffee) and definitely NOT claustrophobic kitchen at "The Brownston" hostel.