Road tripping around New Zealand Chapter 11: A hike up Mount Iron!

3 December 2015

There is no doubt that there are lots to do in Wanaka. You can chill by the lake, visit The Wanaka Tree, bike around the lake, visit the vineyard, go paragliding and the list goes on and on. However, what do we do when it rains?

Honestly I was not ready for rain. I had no backed up plan in case it rains and that was exactly what happened today. We had so many ideas and plans on what to do today but it started to rain in the morning and we were left wondering when it will stop in our motel room. It continued to rain till 12 pm and we were pretty bored and clueless. The only thing we could do was laundry.

We finally decided to head out to Puzzling World, a few minutes away from our motel. I will write more about this place in my next entry.

After looking at the crowd, we decided not to enter the Puzzling World. We had lunch in the cafeteria there and were bored even before we entered. This was not what we were here for so we decided to go back to our room. After a short discussion, we decided to go hike Mount Iron. The friendly motel owner recommended us to do that and I clearly remember him saying that it would only take us 45 minutes to reach the summit.

Well, ok, since we have nothing else better to do. Thankfully the rain has stopped and the sun was up but we were ready for muddy paths.

We parked our car at the carpark and started to enter a enter the trail.  It was refreshing to see so much greenery and yes we walked on flat lands. I was pretty happy about this.

Even though we all started together, Corrine and Effa will somehow disappear into nature. Yup, they are too fast for us. Lol. The bestie and me took such a long time (double the time usually) because we take our time to walk so that we can thoroughly enjoy it.

Oh yes, we also take like hundred of photos along the way, thus the delay lol.

With these kind of views, I HAVE to stop to take photos right!

It started to get steeper and steeper and I was panting more as we hike up. We had to take short breaks more often because………….we are not that fit.

Actually I was pretty exhausted but I refused to give up. I mean we were already halfway up, why give now right? I was so relieved to see this sign!

I swear I honestly thought that the ‘m’ was referring to ‘metres’ so I was cheering le bestie to move up with me because we were near the summit.

I was wrong! The ‘m’ was referring to ‘minutes’! These signboards are misleading gosh. Usually people put up the remaining distance not time on sign boards! They lied to us! All we saw were more steep trails ahead of us.

I was pretty sure we were almost there because when I turned back, I saw this view!

I knew I was almost there when I saw Effa with her hands on her hips checking her watch. Are you timing me? Apparently they have been waiting for us for 45 minutes lol. Oh well, that was not too long right lol.

Check out the view! We could clearly see Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea!

The view from the other side.

It was so wonderful to be there! The view was so worth it even though I felt like dying on my hike up lol.

My fav photo of us!

Actually there were many bunnies around but they are all terrified of humans so if you are really quiet, you might be able to catch some bunnies running into bushes in groups.

Trying to find the best angle to take photos so that we could see both lakes.

I am so glad we did not give up half way. Climbing up any mountain is not easy especially when you have an injured knee and lower back but I was determined to do this. It really took a lot of courage and determination. I even had my foldable walking stick with me in my bag.

Not sure how much longer I can do this but I shall I shall be thankful each time I manage to top any mountain.

Thank you my travel mates for waiting  patiently. Please remember I am so much older than you lol. Ok, next challenge is to go down this Mt Iron! Now, I need to take out my walking stick and use it because I cannot bend fully bend my left knee since it is permanently injured. Imagine having a 60 year old knee. Yup, that is what I have.

Me with my walking stick doing a victory pose before walking down. Lol.

If you are in Wanaka, make sure you take the chance to hike up here! The view is worth it!