Wanaka was the last big stop on our trip. We made some friends in Knoxville last year that had told us Wanaka was their favorite place on earth. We could see why! It was beautiful (though I think I liked Queenstown a bit better).
We took two awesome hikes in this area - Rob Roy Glacier and Roy's Peak. Both of these spots are named for the Scottish hero, Rob Roy McGregor.
We first visited Rob Roy Glacier. It was not what I expected at all because there are Matrix bikes at the YMCA that feature hikes while you are walking on the treadmill or riding the stationary bike, and I had "taken a hike" to a glacier on NZ's south island. Turns out that the YMCA bike took me to Franz Josef glacier, which just looked like dirty ice to me. But our friends had said this was a beautiful hike. It really was! The pictures just do not do it justice because the snow was blinding white and we had to shoot into the sun to get many of the photos. It was simply gorgeous with many waterfalls.
These same friends who recommended Rob Roy Glacier told us that Roy's Peak was a hike we should definitely skip - that it was just hot and exposed all the way up and that the view wasn't worth it (though they admitted they had never taken the hike). Thank goodness we didn't listen! This hike was fantastic and definitely a great hike to end our trip.
We started right at sun-up and were worried that the rain that was forecast was going to ruin our hike. But the rain never materialized. The hike was long (over 10 miles round trip) and quite difficult (over 4200 ft of elevation change), but we survived and loved it!
