Lake 2 Lake

It rained quite heavily overnight and we woke to a light dusting of snow on the surrounding mountains.  We enjoyed a leisurely start and did some hand washing to make the most of the forecast fine day.  

We headed off around 10am to cycle the Upukerora Trail, a 10km loop along Lake Te Anau and back into town along the Upukerora River.  We stopped at the Olive Tree cafe for our morning coffee, accompanied by a cheese scone and also purchased some sandwiches for lunch.

It was pleasant cycling as we picked up the Lake2Lake trail, rated grade 2 (easy) but utilised mainly by cyclists on ebikes.  We only saw one couple on unpowered bicycles despite passing many cyclists along the way.  

We stopped at the Lake Te Anau control gates, which we were interested to see were mainly operated out of Twizel - a long way away.

The track was narrow in parts and very undulating as it largely followed the Waiau River between Lake Te Anau and Lake Manapouri.  At times it was quite steep and at one point, a sign advised that we needed to dismount as the track narrowed significantly with a steep drop to one side 

We could see the Kepler Track on the other side of the river, and stopped briefly at the suspension bridge that marks the commencement of the walk.  

We enjoyed our lunch perched high above the river on a little side track off the Balloon Loop before joining the highway and the turnoff to Supply Bay Road to pick up the trail again into Manapouri. 

A small village, Manapouri boasted a Dairy and Cafe as well as the Church Bar/Restaurant.  We opted to stop at the former for a very ordinary hot chocolate and average brownie.  Still they provided a sugar hit for the superfast ride home along the Te Anau highway which was lightly trafficked and mostly flat. 

Prev entry - Home - Next entry