Patton at the base of the Rob Roy glacier.

Our destination today is the Rob Roy track, which is inside the Mt Aspiring National Park, a 5 hour return hike up through the Rob Roy Valley to the foot of the Rob Roy Glacier.

We drive west from our campsite in Wanaka for about 35 KM along Mt Aspiring road but before we get out of town, we see several businesses and services using Aspiring (with the intention to associate themselves with the famous Mt Aspiring National park) in their title which in some cases seems to us not a wise marketing decision.  We hope not to have to go to Aspiring Medical Center or fly with Aspiring Helicopters any time soon.

Once out of the town proper MT Aspiring road runs through a flat and narrow valley where sheep, reindeer, and cows graze in thousands of acres of lush green grassland.  The mountains on either side of the valley are covered in green grasses and make the hills look plush and velvety and at times the valley narrows and vertical walls rise sharply on either side of the road.

The sheep and cows walk outside their field barriers and frequently walk or lie right in the road and at one point we drove behind and then through a small heard of cows.  We had never been this close to cows even living in New England and it was exciting being among them. Most were very healthy good sized cows with their udders full for their calves but one stood out from the rest, almost the size of a rhino from behind.  I remember thinking that the cow walked very much like a rhino i had seen on safari in Africa and Patton wondered aloud at the cows unusual udders. Then we both realized, WHOA!, we were looking at the hind quarters of a bull, his physique rippling with masculinity, and the largest set of cohones we had ever seen.  Being right next to an animal of such strength and power was awesome.

We continue on through the wild uninhabited area and for most of the way the road is not paved meaning it is a dusty gravel road with ridges, deep potholes, and even deeper washes where you had to ford streams of indeterminate depth running across the road.  Our desire to hike was greater than our fear of getting stuck in a water hole so we continued on and successfully passed through the gauntlet of watery challenges.

It is about a 2 1/2 hours walk to get up to the Rob Roy Glaciers and we’ve never seen any place quite like it. We walk through beautiful temperate rain forests on the way to the glaciers which are counter intuitively within a few miles of the ocean. Three massive glaciers hang above numerous waterfalls that thunder down all around in the headwall of the glacial cirque. The vast scale of the place and the powerful forces of nature in play give us a feeling of being at the beginning of time.