After holding up in Methvan for a few days to wait out the rain I decided to follow the road to Tekapo and avoid any swollen rivers. I reached Gereldine on the first day, the hot dry Canterbury sun saps all your energy so rather than walk the 90 more kms to Tekapo by road I hatched plan c and hitched so I could walk the section back to the Rangitata river through the Two Thumbs Range. I’m so glad I did, walking the section nobo it started winding round the lake on a metal road before heading up boundary stream. I camped up here on the first night with amazing views of the lake and surrounding mountains, next was a shortish day up to the historic Camp Stream Hut and another camp out to avoid a night overrun with mice in a hut. Day 3 of this section was the highlight with a ridge walk up to the highest official point on Te Araroa, Stag Saddle. It was an amazing day with panoramic views of Lake Tekapo and the highest peaks in the Southern Alps before descending in the upper bush stream valley. From here I took the next 2 days out to he Rangitata River, 5 amazing days. Plenty of NOBO’s walk this in three pushed through by shuttle operators trying to maximize profit from the walkers, they miss a lot, heads down marching to meet deadlines (sounds like work, haha). From the river I was able to hitch a ride back go Geraldine then to Tekapo before an amazing walk along the canals to Twizel and then Lake Ohau sharing the route with the Alps2Ocean cycle way for much of the journey. The next section heads to Wanaka hopefully in 5 days before another 5 through to Queenstown, the kms are ticking by fast. 👣👣
Walkabouts 