Day 125 - onsen
Roses hut —-> Arrowtown 24km
The sunrise over the hills this morning was epic. I was now having to wait a little each morning for the sun to rise enough for me to head out - I didn’t really want to walk in the dark. Autumn was well and truely making itself heard; I layered up with everything I carried, the coldest part of the night coming just as I was getting out of bed around 5.30/6am.
I had one, final big climb today up to the top of Roses saddle. Eager to warm up, I powered up to the top within an hour.
I took in the view over the Motatapu one last time and then headed down over the ridgeline towards the river.
Reaching the bottom I had a choice to make: take the low water route through the riverbed, or the high water route over the flood track. Both would lead to Macetown where I’d continue on to Arrowtown. I’d heard the flood track was pretty scrambly and overgrown in parts but you couldn’t have paid me a million dollars to go through the water - even with the sun out it would be freezing. I’d well and truely had enough of cold water.
I bashed my way up away from the river and joined up with a more established trail. I had a few gorse tunnels to squeeze through and it was fairly up and down in places but generally it was pretty good.
Macetown was an abandoned gold mining town from 80 years or so ago - there were a few historic buildings there mid restoration but mainly it was just a lovely collection of autumnal trees alongside a beautifully clear river… which as suspected, was utterly freezing.
I chose to take the quicker route into Arrowtown via a 4WD track rather than take the Big Hilly track on the official TA route. It’s name alone put me off - I’d done enough big hills over the past week thanks very much.
Upon arriving into Arrowtown, I ran around frantically trying to find an ice cream - I’d been dreaming of one since this morning and I was desperate to have one before I had to catch the bus. I’d arranged to meet Josh in Queenstown this afternoon - he’d been staying there since I left him in Lake Ohau. I’d stay the night at his Airbnb and then get the bus back to Arrowtown the following morning to walk the section I’d miss by getting the bus.
As a treat for my feet, Josh and I had booked in an evening soak at the Onsen hot pools. It had been somewhere I’d been desperate to go to for years and it was even more spectacular than I’d hoped.
We’d managed to book a sundowner spot, so not only did we get to watch the sunset over the most magnificent view of the Queenstown backcountry, but we then got to star gaze for a little too once it got dark. The absolute best way to spend our first evening together in QT.