Looping on the Lake

Not a ton to say about today; it was a good day, just focused on only one large hike. This is also the earliest night, by far, that I’ve been tucked into my AirBnB for the evening. And I’m ok with that; partly because it’s cold and raining now, partly because my body is tired, and largely because I am obsessed with tonight’s accommodations.

I went back to the Big Fig for breakfast this morning. The food was so good last night I had to see how their breakfast was. It did not disappoint. I fueled my body with a delicious Superfood Bircher Meusli and a turmeric latte. I enjoyed every bite and every sip and then ordered a chai latte to take with me (to join the cup of tea I already had waiting in the car in Hokitika glass!). I love that in New Zealand they actually serve their lattes at a drinkable temperature and not at a “burn your tongue off” temperature. Why can’t we have delicious healthy ready-to-go breakfast places like this at home?!?! Big Fig, please open a cafe in Roseville!

I stuck with my half-hearted decision from last night NOT to hit the Rob Roy Track today; I really didn’t want to add two more hours of drive time. Instead I hit the road for the two-hour drive to Queenstown to do the Jack Point Track. Now Queenstown is known as the adventure capitol of New Zealand and has all sorts of high intensity adrenaline junkie activities but the reality is that between my retina issues and my torn abdominal wall that’s healing there are enough restrictions on what I should be doing that a high adrenaline outing wasn’t in my cards. Plus, I really didn’t feel like doing anything overly commercialized. My drive was enjoyable with purple and yellow wildflowers all over the hillsides. I stopped at the turbulent Roaring Meg stream and learned from the signs there that the little patch of dead forest around me was the result of non-native invasive trees being killed off as they were overtaking the native landscaping. New Zealanders have no problem killing off invasive species; trees, possums, rats, bunnies – they have a poison for all of it!

My serene drive turned into traffic as I approached Queenstown and I was happy to be turning off to the outskirts of town. I found Jardine Park where the Jack’s Point Track began. The Jack’s Point Track was listed as a 4 hour return and is a hiking and advanced mountain biking track along Lake Wakatipu, the ginormous lake that Queenstown is situated on. I had read that at the termination of the track the Jack’s Point Clubhouse could be found and is a recommended stop for lunch. Sounded good to me. I made sure my pack was properly packed with a bottle of water and snack for each hour of the trek, plus another bottle for good measure, and set off. The weather was cooperating today and the forecasted rain was holding out. The track started through a little portion of redwood trees, it was the first time this trip I’ve smelled the familiar pine and it made me think of the mountains at home. The redwoods didn’t last long though and about five minutes later I popped out lakeside. The contrast of the bright yellow bushy wildflowers and the serene vast blue lake was breathtaking. I’ve never like yellow, in fact, it’s always been my least favorite color, but these New Zealand wildflowers are winning me over. I realized a ways into my hike that I clipped my Garmin onto my bag for the day but forgot to turn it on! Grr, now my route map for this trip will have a gap between Wanaka and Queenstown.

As I tramped along I saw a golf course come into view on the side of the hill before me. And I also could see an opening into how steep the inclines and declines on this track were going to get. Fun. So much for hoping for something flat today. Around 80 minutes into the trek I came to a fork in the road, Jack’s Point Clubhouse was 2.4 km in one direction and Jack’s Point Peninsula Loop was in other direction, no distance given. But there was a warning that the loop was only safe for hikers and the most experienced mountain bikers. It was a gorgeous day so I figured I should go for the loop. They weren’t kidding about the warning for the bikers. The track turned into an extremely narrow, extremely steep downhill grade, and at places it could be barely be made out as I tramped along through chest high brush. A couple portions were a little disturbing as I could tell there was a steep drop off the side but with the dense brush I couldn’t tell where the drop off started. I stayed tight against the hillside, shimmying down the steep track and then huffing and puffing back up the steep inclines. Every time I thought I was getting back near the top I’d look around and realize I still had a ways to go. When I did finally reach the summit of the loop I looked around wondering where this clubhouse was?! And then I came to another fork in the road, this time no sign. I have a pretty decent sense of direction so I figured the left fork must be the trail I would have come on if I skipped the loop and the right fork would take me on to the clubhouse. So right I went. And I realized I was going dramatically downhill again. Which means coming back I’d be coming dramatically uphill again. Ugh. I also realized that the Jack’s Point Clubhouse was literally the golf course clubhouse from the course I had seen during my trek. Coming down the hill I could see sky divers floating down and landing on the airstrip nearby.

A little over two hours after starting I finally reached the clubhouse, I had come 6.5 miles! Again, I had read on the trail guide that it was a good place to stop at the terminus of the trail so I expected a more casual environment fit for sweaty hikers. Not an upscale golf club restaurant. Oh well, I hadn’t eaten any snacks on my trek and I deserved a real lunch. I felt awkward sitting in the restaurant surrounded by folks dressed for a proper Saturday afternoon meal. But the burger and side of carrots I had were absolutely delicious so the awkwardness was well worth it. And then it was time to start back. The clouds had filled in while I was having lunch and it was chilly out now. But that didn’t last long and I quickly heated up as I begrudgingly made my way back up the steep hill. The hill that I had gone all the way down and back up on the one side doing the loop and now had gone all the way down and back up the other side as well. When I got the fork I went right based on my previous assumption that this was the main trail, I did not want to do the steep loop again. At one point I cut down a super steep barely there path straight down a portion of the hillside instead of following the switchbacks. The dense growth again came up to about my chest and I assumed that a couple mountain bikers had just recently laid this path but it was worth it, and I didn’t fall once so that was a bonus. In total, the Jack’s Point hike took me 11.5 miles; no wonder I was getting tired by the time I got back to my car!

I had a half hour drive from there to my AirBnB in Kingston. I figured I would probably get settled into my AirBnB and then drive back up to Queenstown for dinner as my host had already warned me that there was only one little cafe here in town. But as I drove along the perimeter of the lake and down more winding roads I decided that I did not want to have to drive any more today. I reached my AirBnB in Kingston and the host, Kate, met me in front to let me in (they live in an adjoining property). I am absolutely obsessed with this AirBnB! It is funky but warm and cozy and perfectly decorated. It is also just 100m from the lake and both the downstairs living area and upstairs bedroom loft have perfect views of the lake just steps away. I am literally at the apex of the southernmost point of Lake Wakatipu which I spent hours hiking alongside. Kate is an artist and the little boathouse is decorated with her works. I’m not sure how I’m going to get it home but I will be bringing at least one piece of her art home with me. She pointed out a couple hikes I could do from the house, including one steep one up the hillside, but I am so over steep walks right now! I decided that I would go to the cafe in town for some dinner, walk the flat lakefront, and then just enjoy this awesome space.

The little cafe is less than a mile up the road, heck the whole town spans less than a mile I think with its one cafe, few dozen homes, park, library, and fire station. I walked down to the Kingston Corner Cafe and had pretty low expectations, but they weren’t quite low enough. The menu was less than enticing, I just wanted something that felt reasonably healthy and clean. The best I could do would be the soup of the day (vegetable) and an order of spring rolls. Side note, they are as obsessed with spring rolls as they are with garlic bread in New Zealand, they are also on darn near every menu! I tried to order but alas, they didn’t actually have any soup. And they were out of the spring rolls. I was at a food loss, nothing else on the menu sounded at all appetizing. I considered heading back and just eating a protein bar but after overhearing someone order the fish and chips I had an idea. Could they grill my cod instead of fry it? Yes. Could I get a side salad instead of chips? Yes. I had just turned an order of fish and chips into a healthy fish dinner! It was ok at best.

Leaving the cafe I found that the temperatures had dropped, the area had completely clouded over, the wind was starting to whip, and rain drops were starting to fall. It was a brisk walk back! A few minutes after I got in the rain really picked up. It has now been raining off and on at a pretty decent clip for the last hour or so since I’ve settled onto the couch. This place too has only a fireplace for a heat source. Kate had left detailed directions on how to start a fire. I followed them, eh, I got an ember, not much of a fire, and then that started to die out even. And then I found the secret weapon, little chemically fire starter tablets. Jackpot! I now have a fire going! Though I just added another log so we’ll see if it keeps going.

I settled into my AirBnB about two hours earlier than I have any other night this trip and I am pretty happy to be resting. Tomorrow I will head down to the Fjordlands and be staying in Manapouri for the night. I think it’s only about a 90 minute drive from here to Manapouri but I don’t have any Fjordland activities or ideas vetted out yet so time to start researching.