Today we decided to tackle the Rob Roy Glacier Track described as 10km - medium - 3-4hours round trip. First we had to drive through Wanaka and out to Raspberry Creek car park in the Mount Aspiring National Park. The journey took approximately an hour, half of which was on an unsealed road. On the plus side it was picturesque as we drove along the bottom of a wide u- shaped glacial valley. The fertile soil made good pasture for livestock farming - sheep, cattle and deer were all being raised on the valley pastures.
On arrival at the car park we decided to restock our energy supplies and eat one of our lovely rolls ( malted multigrain which we bought at the bakery in Arrowtown yesterday and then filled with cheese and coleslaw)....while watching a pipit.
We finally left the car park at 1015 and headed along the well marked track alongside a glacial river and then crossing it before starting the climb to the top. It was a steady incline for most of the way with a few flat interludes, and a couple of difficult patches due to landslips. At the top there was a lower viewpoint with a further 30minute walk to the upper viewpoint - this really gave the best views....the lower viewpoint was like a small window while the upper viewpoint was a real panorama.(today's photo) We sat in the sun, ate our snack pack, listened to the little birds flitting in the bushes and the occasional loud cracks from the ice while looking for Keas, alpine parrots, but sadly they remained elusive. We started our descent spurred on by the thought of our remaining roll in the boot of the car! Going down was definitely faster than going up ( 2hours up and 1 hour down) we passed lots of people heading up - the afternoon seems to bring them out even though they had missed the best weather and light.
Back in the carpark we freshened up and yes - savoured our roll before heading back to Wanaka.
On the way back we saw lots of oystercatchers feeding on the pasture.