The 8km loop walk around Lake Hayes provides mountain views galore. Photo / Getty Images
The 8km loop walk around Lake Hayes provides mountain views galore. Photo / Getty Images
Jacqui Gibson spends a magical weekend taking in Queenstown on foot
Trampers have long made a beeline to Queenstown. From spring to autumn, it's the gateway to popular multi-day walks like the Milford Track and the Hollyford Track. But it's also flush with untold short walks that you can do year-round and that will draw you along the region's forested tracks, into its fascinating history and to the very edges of its glistening lakes.
Lake Hayes Walkway for lake reflections and mountain views
It's dark outside when we turn into Marshall Avenue, a suburban road leading to a cluster of five rental cottages on the waterfront of Lake Hayes. Three cottages are named after local alpine lakes and the walks you can do at each one. We stay at Hayes Cottage, a modern two-bedroom cabin with a kitchenette, fire and cosy lounge featuring a large window looking directly out to the lake.
We rise early to join the dog walkers and joggers the next morning and tackle the first of five walks on our list. It's two degrees outside, but we check the weather forecast and prepare for a day that's cold but sunny. I'm kitted out in my usual gym gear, plus beanie, merino hiking jacket and scarf. We each have a day pack to carry water, a raincoat, mittens and an extra merino layer. We park the car in a picnic area and there's frost underfoot as we head off.
The 8km loop walk around Lake Hayes provides near-constant views of towering snow-dusted mountains that fill up the day's sapphire-coloured sky and cast reflections on the lake. The narrow dirt track climbs to 68m in parts then becomes a wide wooden boardwalk as it descends into wetlands at the lake's southern end. We see few people, plenty of ducks and work up an appetite for breakfast that starts to gnaw on the five-minute drive to Arrowtown.
Arrowtown heritage walk for a glimpse into the gold rush era
Provisions of Arrowtown cafe on Buckingham St is heaving when we arrive. I order a bowl of black rice and ginger porridge, served with poached rhubarb, crystallised ginger, coconut yoghurt, fresh and dehydrated kiwifruit and toasted coconut. It's five-star delicious. My husband orders eggs benedict. Two coffees later, it's time to walk it all off.
Our 90-minute heritage walk starts on Buckingham St, outside a stand of 160-year-old European miners' cottages. Further on at Lakes District Museum and Gallery we learn that Arrowtown is part of Tohu Whenua, a storytelling programme by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, Ministry for Culture and Heritage and Department of Conservation (DOC).
Charming Arrowtown is packed with stories from New Zealand's past. Photo / Getty Images
The cottages, along with Arrowtown's historic Chinese miners' huts and the police hut on the river's edge, are easy to search and read about online and provide a visual reminder of the region's fascinating gold mining history.
Glenorchy Lagoon Walk for a nature buzz
From Arrowtown it takes us an hour to drive to Glenorchy for the final walk of the day. We stop at Queenie's Dumplings on Mull Street for pan-fried pork and cabbage dumplings.
The winter sun casts long shadows on the flat lagoon trail. The cold air pricks our cheeks. We walk briskly to stay warm in the late afternoon chill as cyclists glide past. The easy walking track takes less than an hour to complete, despite a couple of stops to watch darting dragonflies and photograph Mount Pikirakatahi (Earnslaw) seemingly thrusting out of the landscape to pierce the sky.
Kinloch Nature Walk for quietude
On the 30-minute drive from Glenorchy to Kinloch, the Otago sky turns pink as the day disappears. Tonight's stay is in the front room of Kinloch Wilderness Retreat's Heritage Lodge, across the hall from a British Kiwi couple on a weekend getaway from Queenstown.
Our double room looks out to Lake Wakatipu and the ranges beyond and comes with its own bathroom and hot water bottles, as well as a shared lounge, open fire and outdoor hot tub. After a soak in the spa, we join owners Toni and John Glover in the restaurant for wild venison stew, garden veges and fruit crumble – hoping to tap their knowledge of local walks.
From the retreat, it's possible to walk to Routeburn Falls Hut, the first hut on the Routeburn Track, Toni explains. But instead of the eight-hour return hike we decide on the Kinloch Nature Walk, a one-hour portion of the Greenstone Caples Track.
It's frigid on the trail, despite wearing all our gear, including mittens. A light, frosty rain falls as a hiker pauses briefly to share his plan to overnight at Greenstone Hut. It's quiet in the beech forest; the kind of restorative silence you only get walking in wilderness far from anywhere on a cold winter's day.
It's not exactly busy at Moke Lake, the location of our last walk of the weekend. But just a 15-minute drive from Queenstown, it is one of the more popular trails of the region. Driving the gravel road to Moke Lake car park, we see swathes of chocolate-coloured scree and snow spill down the valley on to frozen ponds. A young bride and groom arrive ahead of us for a photoshoot at the lake's edge. She shivers in a strapless white gown and perfect hair. He's decked out in a sharp black suit and a giddy smile.
For the next few hours, we hike past spiky tūmatakuru (matagouri) and clumps of tawny tussock smothered in snow. In the DOC brochure, the loop track is described as a 6km undulating lake walk. Today, it's a portal to a magical frozen world.
