Lake Dunstan and Lake Wanaka

Lake Dunstan and Lake Wanaka

Date: Sunday 3 March 2013
Route: Alexandra to Wanaka
Distance: 94km to Wanaka, another 7km around town
Weather: perfect- clear and warm, no wind
Accommodation: Wanaka Lakeview Holiday Park

This was a day of cycling next to the water. There was a climb to the dam at Clyde – giving us a good view over the town. Then a long, relatively easy ride next to Lake Dunstan – nice and cool in the shadow of the mountain. At the start the lake is really narrow – with a mountain rising on the other side of the lake. At Cromwell we paused to view the town from above from the opposite side of the lake. We decided to stick to the road that goes around the eastern side of the lake, rather than crossing the bridge here.

It was a gently undulating landscape, following the Clutha river once we left the lake. Farming included vineyards and sheep. There were a few steep hills again just before Wanaka – but all in all a very pleasant and manageable ride.

I got a flat tyre mid-morning – one of my tubes began to leak at a patch – probably due to rough treatment on previous days.

We passed a few groups of touring cyclists – more than on any other day, including on the Otago rail trail (when we saw none). This is obviously a popular place to tour.

We were struck by the festive resort atmosphere in Wanaka – there is a steady stream of tourists around the lakefront, even though it is not high season. It is truly a stunning spot with the mountains on the opposite side of the lake providing a backdrop. The lakefront has kayak hire and many people were just sitting on the grass overlooking the water.

After finding our accommodation and cleaning up we found an open bike shop to stock up on spares – spokes and tubes. We then looked around the watering holes on offer and decided on the Monteith’s bar on the waterfront. It was great having a cold draft beer and wedges sitting outside on the lakefront.

For food we decided on kebabs (there was a large selection of take-aways and restaurants). We sat at the lakefront to eat them and ended up having a long conversation with a Swiss backpacker. It is his dream to catch a large brown trout in a NZ river – we hope he achieves it.

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