Rob Roy Glacier
Mount Aspiring Natnl Park
A one hour drive west from Wanaka, goes along the beautiful Matukituki Valley into the Mount Aspiring National Park, an area of spectacular apine scenery. The road stops at Raspberry Creek car-park. The drive is 54km, of which the last 30 km is unsealed and the last 10 km section of the road is subject to washouts and flooded creeks which can make it impassable. After a 15 minute valley walk you cross the West Matukituki River into beech forest as the track climbs through a small gorge along the Rob Roy Stream, then into alpine vegetation at the head of the valley, with wonderful views of the Rob Roy Glacier. Spectacular waterfalls line the jagged cliffs. The walk to the viewing point is mostly uphill, but the incline is gradual. It was one of the most spectacular picnic spots the world.Wanaka
Wanaka is a vibrant lakeshore village of warm welcoming locals, lakes, mountains, rivers, wineries and an abundance of good restaurants. It is primarily a resort town with both summer and winter outdoor opportunities. Wanaka is known as a smaller, less commercialised version of Queenstown. Along the lakeside path is the Wanaka Community Millennium Project - a long line of reddish plaques which show 2000 years of history. Almost every year had a plaque, some years had more than one, and they listed significant (and occasionally not so significant) events that occurred in that year. It was a history lesson on the street. On the banks of the Clutha River, Lord of the Rings filmed the golden plains, where the Black Riders search for Frodo and Orcs attack the Fellowship.
