Tekapo to Gladstone’s Reserve

Day 68: Tekapo to Lake Ohau Lodge (approximately 85km)

Today we put our walking poles away for the day and rented bikes to get us from Tekapo to Lake Ohau. For two reasons - firstly the Te Araroa Trust recommended this as an option as this leg is mostly on a road alongside a canal.

Our second reason is because when we rode the Alps2Ocean in October 2020 we could not do this leg due to the fires at Lake Ohau Village.

So we picked up our hire bikes at 7:45am and set off to….the nearest cafe for breakfast and coffee!

After an amazing breakfast we then got on the bikes for real. It was very easy riding which gave us a lot more time to look at the stunning views as we went along. The water in the canals is the most amazing blue. That, surrounded by mountains was just magic.

We stopped at the Information Centre/Salmon shop by Lake Pukaki for coffee and lunch. There have definitely been worse places to eat lunch, that is for sure! It was idyllic.

We bypassed Twizel (as we had spent time there when we rode A2O) and headed straight towards Lake Ohau. As we rode alongside the Ohau Canal we had Ben Ohau on our right and it just seemed to be getting larger and larger the closer we got!

Lake Ohau is at the foot of Ben Ohau and it was great to get away from the canals and start riding around the lake towards the village.

As we got closer to the village we could see remnants of the fire damage from 2020 amongst the trees. We did not ride in to the village itself so did not see what state the houses were in but I am sure most of them would have been re-built by now.

Instead we carried on for another 6km to Lake Ohau Lodge where we were staying for the night.

A cruisy day but with the bonus of some awesome views along the way.

Day 69: Lake Ohau to Birchwood Road (31km, 10 hours)

After a massive breakfast(!) at Lake Ohau Lodge we checked out and were just about to walk 3km or more on the road when we saw a guy just leaving in his car. We asked him for a lift to the start of the trail and he very kindly agreed. Result!! We did not even have to walk down the drive to the road! Sweet!

We then started on the Sawyers Bridge track. Interestingly after 2km or so it actually joined up with the Alps2Ocean track again, which was good for us to see. However, just when it was starting to get comfortable, the Te Araroa track took a sharp right uphill and then we were heading up Bushline Track.

The cloud had come in and we could not see very far infront of us once we had broken our above the bushline but it was not too cold and it was not raining so it could have been a lot worse.

We made it up onto the saddle and fortunately the cloud started to clear and we could look back at the mountains behind and forward to those infront.

Over time we started descending to some big, wide open flat country with more large peaks in the distance. This is when we were heading towards the Aruriri River - the widest river crossing we have to do on the Te Araroa. The weather was very kind to us - it had not rained for a number of days and the river level was very manageable. It was wide and the rocks were very slippery but we both made it across OK. Phew!! Main objective of the day successfully completed!

After the crossing we headed out the end of the track at Birchwood Road car park. This was a huge anti-climax as there was nothing really there about more signage for the next track!

It was going to be another 9km to the first hut and, as we had already been walking for 9 hours, we decided instead to find a place to camp near the first stream we would find. And so we did! Our first night “freedom camping”. Surprisingly we both slept very well.

A long day but a good day. Very relieved to have crossed the river safely and found a good spot to camp.

Day 70: Birchwood Road to Top Timaru Hut (via Martha Saddle) (21.5km / 7hrs)

We woke early but took our time getting packed up as we wanted the sun to dry the tent out a bit before we packed it away.

Once we realised this was not going to happen quickly, we packed anyway and started on our way.

On our way we passed the previously mentioned hut, which as it turns out would have been a great place to stay if we had the energy to walk the 9km required! It is privately owned and rather approximately called “Tin Hut”.

The climb up to Martha Saddle was long but not misleading. You could see from near the bottom where you were heading and it was just a case of putting one foot infront of the other and getting up there. We were treated with some great views looking back from where we had come to keep us entertained on the way up.

Once at the top of Martha Saddle (1680m ASL) we were in for an even bigger treat. The views forward were just as amazing, if not more so, than those looking back. It was a perfect spot for lunch! I even got a phone signal and text Di who, it turns out, had ridden her mountain bike up here a year or so ago! Eek!

After lunch we started on our descent. Knowing that Di and Tim had ridden down this track (and really enjoyed doing so, apparently) just left us both in complete awe. The descent continued down to the Timaru River where we found our hut for the night.

Another good day. Cracking views.

Day 71: Top Timaru Hut to Stody’s Hut (15km, 8.5 hrs)

Today was an interesting day.

The first 12.5km we were basically walking down the Timaru River. Literally walking down the river - crossing from side to side, walking down the middle in places. It was beautiful and fun (most of the time!) On two occasions the sides became a bit too cliff-like for my comfort so we scrambled up the bank on one side until we reached the high level path (which is actually the formal track, walking along the river is the “alternate” or “easy” option!)

It was just as well we did this the second time otherwise we might have missed our junction. It was not far from where we re-joined the path. And here we were in for a shock! Even though we knew it was 2.2km and had said it would take 1.5 - 2 hours, it still had not registered just how steep the hill was going to be!

No mincing words, it was really unpleasant! It was incredibly steep and there were so many false summits it was incredibly demoralising. Once we did pop out at the top we did get some good views but I was too over it all by then to really enjoy them!

We soon made it to Stody’s Hut though and after a good old cup of tea all the pain and hard work was forgotten!!

That said, the hut was an old, basic hut with a tarp “carpet” over the soil floor. It was very dark inside and had a resident mouse who came out that night and tried its best to get in to plastic bag with food in it (deliberately left out by Roger to distract it from trying to get in to our packs). The constant rustling and me not knowing what the mouse would do next resulted in me not having the best sleep!

View looking down from above Stody’s

View looking down on Stody’s Hut.

A challenging day (for me anyway!)

Day 72: Stody’s Hut to Gladstone Reserve (via Breast Hill) (16km / approx. 7.5 hrs)

We got up very early because we wanted to see the views from the top of Breast Hill in the best light. This turned out to be a wasted decision as we were in cloud the whole way up! Oh well!

It took us 2.5 hours to get to the trig but when we got there we could see…..nothing. We decided to make a coffee and wait to see if the cloud cleared. At one point we got the tiniest glimpse of Lake Hawea but then it went again! Doh!

We gave it an hour but then finally decided to start heading down, knowing we would still get to see the lake from lower down. We also knew that this particular part of the track would be very easy for us to access once we move to Wanaka so had already planned to come up again another day.

As we descended we saw some amazing cracky rocks sticking out of the clouds which was really cool.

We then broke through the cloud and Boom! There was Lake Hawea in all her glory! Looking amazing.

An hour from the trig we reached Pakituhi Hut. We decided this would be a good place for lunch (and secretly wanted to see what it is like for future trips). We had a lovely lunch then continued our descent.

The next part of the descent was technically quite challenging but amazing views as we made our way down. A couple of hours after leaving the hut we made it down to the road which led us to Gladstone Reserve.