Lake Hāwea & Hunter Valley Walk
Drive to neighbouring Lake Hāwea for a walk along its wilder, less-visited shores and into the Hunter Valley — a remote glacial corridor of extraordinary beauty.
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Lake Hāwea Town
The quiet settlement of Lake Hāwea, 14 km from Wānaka, sits at the southern end of the lake — deeper and colder than Wānaka, with a more remote, pristine character.
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Lake Hāwea Foreshore
The lake shore is far less visited than Wānaka — the same brilliant blue water and mountain backdrop, but with a genuine sense of wilderness and solitude.
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The Neck
The narrow isthmus between Lake Wānaka and Lake Hāwea — the two lakes nearly touch here, separated by just 50 metres of land, with mountains rising on both sides.
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Hunter Valley Road
The gravel road up the Hunter Valley passes through classic high-country New Zealand — merino sheep stations, mountain beech forest, and braided glacier rivers.
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Hunter River Flats
The wide glacial river flats of the Hunter are braided with channels — wrybill plovers nest in the shingle and blue-grey teal feed at the water's edge.
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Hunter Valley Head Peaks
At the valley head, snow-streaked peaks of the Hāwea Conservation Park rise above the treeline — the wilderness gateway to some of Otago's most remote country.