|
The fire raged with might, lighting up the Wanaka hillside from the early morning darkness. Unlike the news articles the night before reporting the fire was out, seeing the yellow hillside from the car, it was obvious – Mt Roy was well and truly alight. Firefighters had the bottom under control, however the top was roaring. Working tirelessly through the night to keep the blaze under control, biding time until first light for the choppers to begin. They then had the arduous task of dropping monsoon buckets over and over and over until the fire was out. Burning spectacularly, there was no possible way she would be touched today by any amateur walkers. We now were 40 minutes away from Mt Isthmus (thanks Mr Fireman for Plan B) with no fuel and had no real idea what Plan B entailed.  Flinging on our day packs loaded with cameras, drones, food and warm gear, we set off with the sun rising gently on the glassy lake. The lake soon having the mountains surrounding it reflecting upon to its crystal-clear water. Looking back towards Wanaka, a layer of smoke and haze separated the town and the mountainous surrounds. It wasn’t long before the sun-drenched mountain radiated heat from beneath. Barron and brown, no shade or cover could be taken, making us exuberant at the 4am wakeup call we instilled on ourselves. Grafting upwards for 90mins, our legs were burning and belly’s grumbling, welcoming a break and an opportunity for Benny to get in some drone action. Finding a spot on a small ridge off to the side of the track, a shear rock face separated us from the lake below. Appearing as a few rocks from where we were sitting, Andre soon experienced a different view climbing up them to find himself atop the rock wall. He didn’t seem all that comfortable! The striking beauty of the snow-capped Southern Alps and blue lakes combined encompassed us, leaving us feeling pumped about what lay next.  Charging up the mountain (mainly because Benny was droning us and we wanted to appear fit), the excitement and glee of the view outweighed any pain the 1200m climb brought. Reaching the saddle, we began the final ascent along the ridge to the summit, with views of Lake Hawea on one side and Lake Wanaka on the other. Sitting on top of Isthmus, eating what Benny describes as a ‘man sandwich’ – a sandwich filled with copious amounts of butter and hazelnut butter, a sense of overwhelming gratitude flows over me. Gratitude for the beautiful surroundings of our home country, and gratitude for our current lifestyle. The soaring sun had us running down Isthmus in a desperate bid for shade – our only way of avoiding the intense summer heat was to reach the patches of forest near the beginning of the track. The water remained still with not a single ripple showing. Our heavy footsteps disturbing the dusty ground, sending plumes of dust swirling into the air - my white singlet ending up a new shade of white called brown! Reaching the bottom brought a mixture of relief and triumph. Relief that I wasn’t going to shrivel up on the spot, dehydrated by the devastating heat, and triumph for the beauty we had just experienced.
*Mt Isthmus is nestled between Lake Hawea and Lake Wanaka, offering spectacular views of both lakes from 1700m. |
AuthorJust a girl, trying to learn to write while sharing our adventures of NZ. In this sectionMt Isthmus Track
Ben Lomond Track Tongariro Northern Circuit Lake Waikeremoana Track Holdsworth - Jumbo Circuit Motutapu Track Northwest Circuit Monowai / Green Lake Circuit Auckland Coromandle East Cape Rere Rock Slide Hawkes Bay Red Rocks Dunedin Moeraki Boulders St Bathans Catlins Milford Sound Blue Pools Archives
June 2018
|
RSS Feed