TA Days 141 to 145: Along Greenstone to Mavora Lakes and Te Anau

Known as a cool, open-air city, Queenstown has quite the reputation for being expensive and overly touristy. Not wanting to spend a lot of money, we hoped to walk through town and reach the first cabin on the Greenstone track.

That morning, on the way to work, a friend from Animal Encounter gave us a ride back to Frankton, where we had left off the day before.

From there we leisurely walked 10km to the heart of Queenstown.

Normally the path runs alongside Lake Wakatipu. However, most of it was closed for construction; that is, walking on the side of a busy interstate highway. It wasn’t as nice with an endless stream of cars, but at least we had a sidewalk.

Just before the center of town, the road reopened; drawing me towards the lake and the gardens.

Still relatively early, the trail along the peninsula was peaceful, with tall pine trees and calm waters.

Beyond the gardens, the bustling little port and city center came into view. I checked out a small outdoor craft fair, before making a short trip to Patagonia Chocolates.

Captivated by the wide variety of handmade chocolates, cakes and ice creams; I didn’t notice Team Chokolade sitting nearby enjoying some hot chocolate.

After finishing their hot chocolate, the Chokolade team ordered some ice cream. By now I had seen them and had accompanied them with some dark chocolate ice cream. Soon, Animal Encounter was there too with ice cream in hand. All I can say is mmm. I can’t wait to go back and try the dark chocolate sorbet.

The chocolate break completed, the difficult task lay ahead.

Walking to the first car park on the outskirts of town, we tried our luck hitchhiking to the start of the Greenstone track.

Since there were four of us, we divided into two groups to hitchhike.

Always needing to pee and not knowing how long it would take to get there, I stopped to go to a nearby bathroom.

The Chokolade team was already at the roadside. Before his thumbs were up, a car pulled up. Luckily for us, Animal Encounter and I were walking and didn’t have to wait at all.

We really hit the trip jackpot. Not only was there room for the four of us, but they also gave us a ride to the Greenstone trailhead, 50 miles away! Our driver wasn’t even going in that direction, he was just extremely generous and didn’t mind killing time before meeting his friend.

The trip was quite enjoyable and we got an insider’s perspective on some of the movies being filmed in the region. From the current production of “Zelda” to the future filming of “Gollum”.

Past Glenorchy, the dirt road to Greenstone can be difficult to reach. We even passed a family hiker from TA who was hiking there. Oh, how lucky we were!

Arriving at the trailhead before 2pm, we had a quick lunch and had a quick video call with Distance Frog (who started the South Island after us). Missing our tailgating brother, we enjoyed catching up and seeing how much his beard had grown.

The walk to the Slip Flat cabin was great; very well leveled and easy through the forest, passing rivers and waterfalls.

Having only three bunk beds, the Slip Flat cabin was already full upon our arrival. Instead we chose to camp across a stream in a field north of the cabin.

I spooked a huge group of deer that were looking for the cabin. At this point, all that was left was his poop scattered across the grass.

After pitching our tents on excrement, we did our nightly chores; filter water and cook dinner. Besides feeling exhausted, it was pretty cold, so we just hung out in our tents.

Around 8pm, the sky turned a beautiful orange color as the sun began to set. Peeking out from behind the flaps of my tent, I made a watercolor painting as I settled in for the night.

The clouds moved away, leaving a beautiful sky of bright stars.

The next morning we found a clear blue sky. It was a cold start, but it got warmer as the day progressed and the shady forest turned into exposed swamps and farmland. Moving from the Greenstone trail to the less popular Mavora trail, there was a noticeable difference in trail quality.

At times, poor signage and wet terrain made it difficult to find the trail.

We had initially planned to go to the Boundary Shelter, about 25.5 km away. However, dealing with a sore throat and feeling sluggish; Animal Encounter caught me shortly before Taipo Hut.

Already at 2:00 p.m. there were still another three or four hours to Boundary Hut. Feeling terrible and not wanting to walk in the heat of the day, we decided to call him.

Fortunately, the Chokolade team was on board for the short day. My tram settled happily inside the cabin, meanwhile, I set up my tent and started crushing the tea to soothe my throat.

Taking a shorter day meant time to catch up on chores…like sewing Robert’s holey shorts.

Animal Encounter and I made new paintings. Soon, a large group of family walkers arrived. We were officially back in the bubble. At least we had enjoyed a few days without crowds.

On the bright side, our French friend, Bastian, was there. As promised, he showed us his watercolor book. It’s always fun to see other people’s trail art!

After dinner, we played a little yanith, before he said it was early.

You’re probably suffering from a cold due to weeks of lack of sleep, stress, and large temperature fluctuations; I felt exhausted. When necessary, I slept late; I finally woke up as my tram was getting ready to start the day.

Despite being the last to leave camp, my body felt a little better. Once I finally woke up and started walking, it was a pretty uneventful day of walking.

Most of the trail was a dirt road to the Mavora Lake campground. I met my friends having lunch at Carey’s cabin and had a small snack before continuing.

Although it was not raining, it seemed as if a storm was approaching. A strong, cold wind blew from the lake as the dirt ATV track turned to sand along the shore.

I finally reached camp and pitched my tent between the trees. Although there were already quite a few hikers, the area had plenty of space.

We had dinner near our tents, before joining a few others warming themselves around a small fire.

The next morning our tram was the last to leave the camp. Everyone else had left early, planning to walk the entire 45 kilometer stretch to Highway 94 and then hitchhike to Te Anau. Or try to hitchhike from the road before reaching the highway.

Reluctant to have a big day, our plan was to wild camp where the river and TA trail meet the Mavora Lakes Highway around mile 2,818.

Known for being a poorly marked and overgrown section down the riverbed, we opted to follow the masses and take a slight detour.

Instead of doing the entire Mararoa River route, we followed the trail until kilometer 2,800, and took the last suspension bridge that crosses the Mararoa River. From there we had 18 km of dirt road left.

I spent the day walking with Animal Encounter. It was nice to have someone to chat with, especially during the long, dusty walk up the road.

Finally we reached where we would have reached the road if we had taken the river trail all the way. Pulling off the road with the Chokolade team in tow, we looked for a suitable camping spot for the night.

Many large bushes and swamps made it difficult to find a suitable campsite. A little exploring and a small stream crossing led us to settle on a gravel bar near the river. There was no rain in the forecast, which made the place a good place to spend the night.

Setting our tent stakes in the sand and reinforcing the corners with stones took some time. Although it’s pretty safe now, we were hoping it wouldn’t be a windy night.

Overall it was a lovely spot and a quiet campsite between canals.

Once again, the next morning, Animal Encounter and I hit the dirt road together. After a couple of hours we reached Highway 94. Fortunately, we only had to walk two kilometers on the highway before reaching our turnoff.

After a little snack (cinnamon roll, yum) at a food stand near the start of the next section, we headed back to the highway. It’s time to hitchhike into Te Anau to resupply.

Fifteen minutes later, a van turned around and came back to look for us. In Aotearoa, many people (especially young international visitors) travel in self-contained vans. While they are amazing to explore and live in, they typically only have room for the driver and passenger. It’s not the easiest thing to get into trouble.

However, a friendly Dutch couple picked us up. We sat on his bed and had a nice conversation during the trip.

In town we met up with the Chokolade team at the holiday park, resupplied and had a bit of free time.

I went for a walk around Lake Te Anau while chatting on the phone with my mom. Afterwards, I sat on the beach and painted the distant peaks of Fiordland National Park while chatting with my sister.

After going to the grocery store, I had an early dinner before the kitchen got busy.

Animal Encounter was feeling depressed because her dog, Bernie, had not been doing well. For most of his life, it was devastating to know that his suffering would end tomorrow.

To improve his mood, I bought some ice cream and we played several rounds of yanith before going to bed.

For some reason, I was burning for Yanith. He had only won once in the entire North Island. In the south, my luck was changing.

Despite being far behind Robert (the defending champion), we had a long rally. I even won the match, although I only realized it after Sophia and Animal Encounter pointed it out.

After the cards, it was time to go to bed. I should have showered earlier, because even after 10pm the line was long. I couldn’t be bothered to wait and figured another night without a shower wouldn’t make a difference. Hopefully I can grab one tomorrow before I head out.

Stay strong and have a good night!