We’ve been watching the weather during our trip, shifting activities to try to take advantage of pretty days when possible. Unfortunately, it looks like it’s going to start raining in much of Southern New Zealand in a few days. But today the weather was supposed to be beautiful, so we decided to do a hike near Wānaka, even though we’d be staying there in a few days. It’s only about 75 minutes from Queenstown anyway, so it’s not too much trouble to do the hike early.

The hike we planned was to climb Roy’s Peak. It would be our longest tramp to date in New Zealand, a distance of 10 miles and a climb of more than 4,200 feet, providing beautiful views of the mountains and Lake Wānaka. We expected the hike to take about 6 hours, so we set out from our place in Queenstown early, stopping by Fergbaker (next to Fergburger naturally) for sandwiches and coffee. By 10, we were on the trail.

If I’m being honest, the first part of the trail left a bit to be desired. To start, Roy’s Peak is a popular hike, especially with the Instagram crowd, so the trail was clearly designed for more people than the other tracks we’d hiked. In fact, most of the trail was about 10-feet wide. And the trail passed through pastures with sheep and cattle, rather than natural areas. Plus, the livestock left landmines that definitely were not mud. And there also was a thick cloud layer, so no views.

But the hike got better as we rose through the clouds. We started to get some beautiful views. About 850 feet from the peak, we reached a ridge that is apparently the spot that all the Instagrammers flock to for photographs, so we decided to check it out.

Really, it’s ridiculous how people hike up to the top of a mountain just to get an epic photo of themselves looking cool. I’d never do that.

Pictures taken, we pressed on. The trail got much smaller, and the views much prettier. Lydie, Cassie, and Julie are in the middle left of the picture below, just very small.

Yep. More pretty views.

The trail curled around to the south side of the mountain, where the trail was covered in snow since it doesn’t get direct sunlight.

The snow looked like frozen clouds more than snow falling from the sky. Indeed, the ice seemed to grow out of the ground.

When we finally reached the top, the clouds had just about cleared up over the lake.

We had unobstructed views in all directions.

After spending a few minutes admiring the view, we started to head back down. It was getting a little cold on the exposed peak.

About this time, Julie discovered that she’d lost her glasses. She’d been hiking in her sunglasses since we broke through the clouds below. She decided she dropped them hours before on her way up. This was a problem (though I would be amused if Julie had to wear her sunglasses for the next 2 months). The girls were more focused on the fact that we still hadn’t eaten the sandwiches we picked up in Queenstown.

We went back down to the Instagram location to eat our lunch. It was a nice spot in the sun with great views. Ever friendly, Julie started chatting with a family with a small child and asked if they’d seen her glasses. They had! The put them on a large rock near the bottom of the trial. After eating, we hiked down the trail with a new mission: finding Julie’s glasses. Along the way, the clouds continued to clear up, providing amazing views of Lake Wānaka.

With the help of the nice family we met, Julie found her glasses!

With the sun going down, the sheep were apparently headed home, too. Groups of them crossed our path has we hiked.

We finally reached the bottom, hopped in the car, and headed back to Queenstown. Roy’s Peak had been a great hike. The amazing views at the top and on the way down more than made up for the mediocrity of the ascent. Another great day!

-Will