When we were planning to come to New Zealand, there was one place we knew would be at the top of our bucket list. We’d seen the photos online and despite the fact that it would be a 6 hour round-trip, we knew it would be worth it.
However, since arriving in New Zealand we’ve been a bit tentative to hike up to the summit of Roy’s Peak. Would we be fit enough to hike for 6 hours after almost 4 months of garlic curries, jackfruit tacos and very little exercise? (Apparently falling of surfboards doesn’t count…) Not only were we particularly unfit, but the Department of Conservation had issued a warning that the summit of Roy’s Peak would not only be icy and dangerous, but that “alpine experience is essential to complete the hike”.
Not ideal conditions, but with a small window of good weather we decided to buy new batteries for our head-torches and head on up to catch the sunrise.
We set our alarms for 4am and after the abrupt awakening we were heading towards Wanaka, the small town at the base of the mountain. Once parked up, we filled our backpacks with cameras, chocolate, a bag of trail mix and a single orange. A few stretches and a quick glimpse at the route map and we were ready to go!
As the path zigzagged its way up the mountain and we rubbed the sleep from our eyes, we began questioning why we’d decided to hike up at 4am. What if the forecast was wrong and we’d get to the top only to be stood in a cloud? Our fears seemed to become reality as before long the (already limited) visibility dropped to just a few meters and we were forced to keep to the inside of the track to stop us from walking off the mountain.
Thankfully, we were only walking through some low clouds so we were soon above them and could make out the dark silhouette of the summit high up above us. After just over 2 hours of climbing, the sky in the distance started to turn blue and before long, we turned off our head torches and let our eyes get used to the early morning light.
We knew that it would take around 3 hours to reach the top so having timed our start almost perfectly, we arrived with time to spare before the sun peaked its head over the mountains in the distance and made the mountains around us glow pink.
We reached the top of the 1578 metre mountain in a respectable 2 hours and 48 minutes, whilst below us the clouds blocked the view into the valley and we felt like we were on top of the world.
After some well deserved chocolate and enough photos to fill our memory cards, we began the long climb back down into the clouds and back to the van. We reached the bottom slightly quicker than we got to the top, and after a total of 5 hours and 13 minutes of hiking, we made it!
Our legs may have only just recovered from the hike to the summit of Roy’s Peak but feeling the warmth of the sun’s light on our faces after climbing through the night was definitely worth it.
CAUTION
Always remember to check the forecast and only set out if the weather looks safe and is in your comfort zone. Weather in the mountains can change quickly!
