Babbling Brooke’s Travel Blog

We awoke all cozy, in our A-frame cabin on the morning of our 25th day in New Zealand. Another early start for another exciting adventure that we had been looking forward to for months now! Matt and I packed up our things (for the hundredth time) and headed down the road about a block to check into our next activity. The Siberia Experience, as it’s called, is a 3 part adventure in which we’d take a 30 minute scenic flight into the Southern Alps, land in a remote wilderness valley of Mount Aspiring National Park, then hike out 7km to meet at the Wilkin river for a jet boat ride back to base camp. Now do you see why we were so excited to start the day? 

Shortly after we checked in, our pilot arrived and we followed him to his yellow Cessna A185F, known as ‘Buttercup’. Matt and I, along with another couple who had booked the trek, climbed into the plane. Matt got to sit up front with the pilot and I sat in the very back!

We took off from the small grassy airstrip and rapidly climbed out of the valley. Almost immediately, the views expanded to endless mountains, rising up out of lush green valleys with electric-blue waters of the rivers below flowing along their carved paths. I was speechless! We passed by numerous waterfalls cascading down from glacier capped mountain peaks.

As we snaked through the valleys, we seemed to be heading straight for a gigantic rock face of Mount Pollux, which had glaciers, snow, and waterfalls cascading down to Lucidus Lake below. At first I thought the pilot was going to go up and over, but then the G Force kicked in as the pilot maneuvered us in a semi circle, following alongside the natural curve of the mountain face. We were so close to the mountain I felt like I could reach out and touch it! It was exhilarating. 

We briefly retraced our path out and then turned left where our destination came into view. We descended and landed, gently bumping along the grassy field. As we exited the plane, our pilot took a few photos for us as we posed with the plane, and pointed us in the direction of the trail we needed to follow out. To start, we first needed to wade across a river! 

We swapped out our hiking boots for our trusty Chacos and began the crossing. The water was absolutely frigid to the point of pain, actually! There was no way around it- we just needed to get through it. One foot after the other, Matt and I crossed the river. Luckily the water was quite shallow and never went above mid-calf. On the plus side, the water was so cold it helped soothe my bug bites I’ve collected on this trip! 

On the sandy bank, we quickly swapped shoes again, careful not to linger too long and get bitten by more sandflies. We began to walk along the river, following the clear trail. The scenery was breathtaking! Mountains rose all around us and the valley floor; the grasses, wildflowers, and river made for a picture perfect view. I thought, as we walked along, “I really need to paint this one day.”

The trail started climbing up along the base of the mountain, and kept climbing for some time until all of a sudden Matt and I stood along a cliff looking down to the river below!

About halfway, the trail began to descend back down while curving left, following the slope of the mountain. Back on the valley floor we walked along the Wilkin river to the meeting point for the jet boat, marked by a small sign: “Jet boat pick up”.

We had made really good time while hiking and were about an hour early. The sun was out, there was a gentle breeze, and the turquoise waters of the river flowed by in front of us. We laid down our things to lay against a small grassy mound- perfect for napping! 

We relaxed and marveled at how we fortunate we were to just be here. I regretted not bringing my book but lying still was also good for my brain. 

Once the jet boat came roaring up the river, my sun-induced sleepiness was gone in a flash, replaced with pure excitement for the more adrenaline-pumping portion of the day!

We donned life jackets and climbed aboard. Somehow, by sheer luck, Matt and I ended up in the front seat. I was STOKED. We jetted off, heading downstream, essentially traveling along the surface of the water. Our boat captain informed us he only needs about 9cm of water depth to run the boat! It really showed when we skimmed along the surface of the shallow water flowing over river rocks in a mini-cascade of rapids.

We were shown how high the river flows at peak snow melt season and it was wild to see bits of grass growing high on the limbs of trees, marking the past water-line. The captain explained that they have gauges in the water that measure the water flow. For reference, the Wilkin river right then was flowing at about 29 cubic meters per second. The river gets down to about 9 cubic meters at the height of summer and over 800 at the peak of snowmelt! The thought of that much water flowing was hard to imagine but the basin of the river was wide and we had seen how high up it went- all that was left was to fill in the gap! 

We continued to soar down river, doing a few 360 degree spins along the way (my favorite part) before we joined the Makarora river, which in Māori means ‘the braided river’. If you look at the river from above it makes sense why it was named as such- the river is constantly breaking, weaving, and rejoining itself. At the point of convergence of the two rivers, we began the journey upstream on the Makarora towards base camp. 

Once we were back on land, I was tempted to try and figure out a way to book another jet boat ride. I didn’t want it to end and could’ve stayed on board all day! 

We grabbed a quick bite to eat at our hotel before getting in the car to continue south to Wānaka. Luckily the trek was only about an hour- very short for our standards! 

On our drive into town, we drove along Lake Wānaka and then the highway cut across along the bank of Lake Hāwea. The water was insanely blue and just calling our names for a swim! Looking for a spot, I peeled off the highway at a point where it looked like the road was relatively close to the water. Matt got out to confirm we could get down to the water easily! Turning off the car, we both found our swim suits and quickly changed behind the privacy of the car. One thing about NZ is it really isn’t that populated, as there wasn’t even a car that passed during those couple minutes! 

Carefully walking down the rocky ledge, we stood on the rocks looking into the crystal clear, blue glacier lake water below. I got close to the edge and plunged in! It was cold, but not frigid, and felt AMAZING! The water was so calm, and we felt like we had the entire lake to ourselves. How was this place not overrun with tourists and boats? It was paradise and I felt like we were lucky enough to have stumbled upon it. 

Throwing on our trusty towel ponchos to dry off, we drove the rest of the journey to our Airbnb in Wānaka. We freshened up and then went downtown in search of food (and maybe a little shopping).

Our first views of the town against the banks of Lake Wānaka were so picturesque! It reminded me so much of Lake Chelan back home in Washington State, but with taller mountains! The weather was perfect so we parked the car and started exploring.

We shopped around and then grabbed an outside table at Sofi, right in the heart of the bustling town and across the street from the lake. We enjoyed some delicious wine and split a mixed plate of their Mediterranean cuisine. Afterwards, we grabbed some ice cream at Black Peak Gelato and set about walking along the water.

We walked all the way down the shore to the famous Wānaka Tree that sits in the shallow water of the lake. Along the way, there are bricks tracing the sidewalk of the history of the world as well as New Zealand and also local history. It was really interesting to follow it along!

Losing energy after such a fun-filled and long day, we quickly did some laundry before getting into bed for sleep! We had another last-minute booking the following morning and I was so excited (and also a little nervous) because Matt had Googled a company that takes you up for a scenic flight around Mount Aspiring. But this isn’t just any scenic flight- it‘s also a flight lesson and I was going to fly a plane for the first time!

Want to see how my first flight went? Stay tuned for the next post! Subscribe to get email alerts when new posts are published. As always, thanks for following along!