After earlier launching at the small boat ramp in Freshwater Basin we soaked up the scenery and cruised slowly into the sound itself. A group of sea-kayakers was making use of the flat, calm water and were well and truly dwarfed by the surrounding peaks while over the VHF we could hear the tourist boats preparing for their first tours of the day. A couple of aluminium hardtop trailer boats were astern of us, and having spoken to their crews at the ramp, we knew they were away for a few days, heading south towards Sutherland Sound and chasing tuna.
Our goals were less lofty – Anna had only been to Milford on wet, stormy days and she simply wished to explore this scenic gem on a sunny day. Our 16-year-old son Angus was keen to explore too and have a fish and a dive. Having been to this area many times,
I was only too happy to show them how special it was.
Our Milford boating experience was another chapter of a memorable summer road trip that had started two weeks earlier when we headed south from our home near Christchurch.
We’d been fortunate to secure accommodation at Lake Tekapo/Takapō and then at Queenstown and had decided to use both as bases to get out and explore some new boating destinations, as well as re-visit some old haunts. Our three sons planned to join us at different times and locations as they juggled their own hectic summer social lives with spending some time with their old man and old lady.
We’re no strangers to many of these southern lakes; I grew up camping, boating, fishing and hunting around them and have continued to visit regularly over the years. Surrounded by the Southern Alps and flanked by golden tussock lands, these deep, cool waters offer boaties the opportunity for diverse experiences. Strike it right and they can be simply breathtaking but, in the presence of the prevalent westerly/north westerly wind, the lakes have the potential to be downright dangerous. They can be whipped into a frenzy in a very short time and large swells can roll menacingly the length of each lake to smash onto rocky shores. Even in the height of summer boaties need to take the wind and weather into consideration. This is an alpine region, and the weather can change dramatically in a very short time.
Lake Tekapo township has experienced huge growth over the past 20 years; no longer is it a sleepy backwater to stop for a pie and a toilet break on the way to more exciting destinations further south. The town has a huge range of amenities and accommodation options and new homes have sprung up out of subdivisions scraped out from the tussock. It still maintains its place at the top of every tourist’s ‘must do’ list and can be incredibly busy over the summer holidays. Most readers will have seen images of the lake and perhaps marvelled at its distinctive colour. In fact, Lakes Tekapo and Pukaki get their distinctive blue colour from glacial flour – a fine silt of pulverised rock suspended in the water that reflects blue light and gives the lakes their luminous appearance.
The boat ramps here leave a lot to be desired, but that is, in large part, due to the fluctuating levels of this important hydro lake. It can rise and fall many metres over the course of each year. One ramp, closest to town and the lake’s outlet, is very long, narrow and steep when the water is low. The more popular concrete ramp close to the boat club headquarters and camping ground is often devoid of the most basic necessity – water. That means most boats are launched directly off the firm shingle beach and vehicles and trailers simply left close by. The beach here is very popular and busy, particularly as it’s a designated waterski/watersports zone. There’s also a swimming and canoeing area and, being sheltered, it is a popular family spot.
Another basic boat ramp on the lake’s eastern shoreline, just a few minutes from the township on the Lilybank Road, is also popular and provides easy access to another watersports zone. As mentioned, it’s important to remember that the water level can fluctuate and hazards may not always be clearly visible.
Jetboats are popular in these parts – hardly surprising given they were invented just along the road at Irishman Creek Station by Sir William (Bill) Hamilton back in the early 1950s. The lakes are popular for jetboating; so too the large, braided and glacial rivers that flow into them, including the Godley, Tasman and Dobson.
We utilised the good weather to boat the width and length of the 83km2 lake; fishing off river mouths, picnicking on Motuariki Island, and wakeboarding in the shadow of Mt John Observatory.
Tekapo and its environs offer some first-class trout and salmon fishing. The lake itself can be very productive, so too nearby streams and tarns (small alpine lakes). The hydro canals running through the area have become immensely popular destinations for anglers wishing to chase trophy fish. Angus, who is learning the art of fly-fishing, spent some wonderful time on the shores of Lakes Alexandrina, McGregor and Poaka, as well as on the banks of some mesmerising small high-country streams.
About an hour south of Tekapo is Twizel with a permanent population of 1,700 but swelling to many times that number every holiday. Over the summer holidays, it heaves with visitors! The town was founded in 1968 to house construction workers on the Upper Waitaki Hydroelectric Scheme, and despite initial plans for it to be disestablished at completion of the scheme, it remained. Like Tekapo, it too has experienced huge growth over the past 20 years.
Twizel is just minutes from Lake Ruataniwha and about a 15-minute drive to the top of Lake Benmore, New Zealand’s largest artificial lake, created as part of the Upper Waitaki Hydroelectric Project. Construction of Benmore Dam, the country’s largest earth dam, was approved in 1957 and the lake was filled in December 1964.
I have many fond memories of skiing, fishing and exploring Lake Benmore with the family in our Fi-Glass Scamps and Cavaliers back in the 1980s and 90s before the lake was ‘discovered’.
These days, hundreds of boats launch daily at spots like Ohau C, Falstone, Haldon Boat Harbour and Sailor’s Cutting. And, while the lake is huge, with several distinct geographical areas, it can get very busy on the water – as well as at the boat ramps. Nonetheless, it is a stunning waterway to explore. A key component of its attractiveness as a boating destination is the high number of small, isolated beaches where people congregate for day excursions. Here, they’ll shelter under trees and gazebos and ski, fish, swim and picnic to their hearts’ content.
The lake has an area of about 75km² and a shoreline 116km long that consists of two arms: the Haldon Arm which is fed mainly by the Tekapo, Pukaki, Twizel Rivers, plus the Ōhau Canal; and the Ahuriri Arm, fed mainly by the Ahuriri River. These arms are separated by a narrow, winding section that used to be the gorge of the Ahuriri River before it was flooded to create the lake. With it’s almost desert-like, steep hilly sides, the gorge is a fantastic place to visit.
While Benmore can provide some great fishing for trout and landlocked salmon at times, the Christmas-New Year holiday season isn’t generally one of them! Quite simply, there are too many boats and too many people. It’s also important to note that there are some very shallow parts of the lake, particularly close to its head, across to the Haldon Boat Harbour, and down to Black Forest Station.
As expected, nearby Lake Ruataniwha was immensely popular over the holiday period; the camping ground was packed with guests and the lake shore was gently splashed by endless wash from the many outboards, jetskis and jetboats. This small 3.4km2 lake was formed by the Ministry of Works as part of the Upper Waitaki Power Project between 1977 and 1981 in a gorge created by the Ōhau River.
The lake was developed into a major recreational resource with a large number of trees, a rowing course and the holiday park. However, this was not planned as part of the hydroelectric project and instead came about as a public service on the instructions of Max Smith, the locally-based Project Engineer. This initiative infuriated the Wellington bureaucrats and Smith was subsequently forced into retirement. Forty years on, his foresight must be acknowledged and celebrated because the lake has developed into
a wonderful recreational asset. Not only are there small, sheltered and somewhat quaint boat ramps on the northern side for boaties, but there are also other sheltered areas for swimmers and non-powered craft, as well as the world-class rowing facilities.
We’ve spent plenty of time on this lake and it was an easy decision to leave the crowds and keep travelling. So, we continued south of Twizel for 10 minutes before turning to the right and heading west towards Lake Ōhau.
