To the sky and beyond

Roy’s Peak walking track is a Wanaka must-do for most people and unfortunately that’s adding up to a few too many right now, with queues forming to walk along the ledge for That Instagram shot.

It’s about two hours zig zagging straight up to the top of the track and for most the sweeping vista of the landscape below is enough. For others there is Skyline. A more arduous task that adds another 4-5 hours to your journey as you traverse the ridgeline from Roys to Mt Alpha and then down to Spotts Creek in the Cardrona Valley.

This is an epic adventure (by epic, we mean three-days-of-sore-legs-afterwards) that’s not for the faint hearted or mildly prepared. It’s a solid, exposed push but, if you have the chops, the fitness and the determination, it is amazing. Outrageous. Mind-blowing. It is one of those walks that make you realise how small Wanaka is and yet how immense its backyard is.

This is a one-way walk (for most) so arrange someone to drop you off at one end and pick you up at the other. Or you can leave a car parked at each end. Reward yourself with a beer at the Cardrona Pub before you drive back to Wanaka.

Would we do it again? For sure, once the pain of those first few hours of uphill become gilded by the kind of romantic nostalgia that only time affords.

Check conditions before you head out, go with someone who knows the track and take plenty of food, water, clothing and sunblock. It’s a mountain experience that’s worth it, but never worth not being prepared for.