It was just a boys’ weekend away. Something easy, something to unwind with and most importantly, somewhere new to explore. We got a heck of a lot more than we bargained for.
Rob and I are both Queenstown locals and have spent many hours roaming the back roads of Queenstown and Glenorchy both out of personal interest and due to our jobs. One spot we had always touched on but never fully had a chance to explore was the Rees Valley.
The Rees Valley is a 1.5 hour drive north-west of Queenstown. Following the Glenorchy road will see you most of the way there. It is primarily made up of huge farmland that covers a vast area of back country tucked in behind both Glenorchy and Queenstown. A huge, untouched landscape that has been farmed since the gold mining era. The opposite side of the valley enters the Mount Aspiring National Park. From the valley floor the mountains seem to build up endless walls of bluffs and waterfalls till they touch the sky. We turned off the highway and hit the gravel road. Caution is needed on this route. Not only are there locals that roam these roads but larger trucks and vans transporting sunburnt hikers in and out of the trail head. The Rees Valley road is a beautiful road to roam along. Full of aged beech forest, views up or down the valley and glimpses at the icy cold river along the way. Eventually you will meet the trail head and a spot known as Muddy Creek. We aired our tyres down, locked it into low range and proceeded along the rack.
The first view into the valley proper is just after Muddy Creek crossing. Rise up the trail onto a plateau overlooking the entire valley ahead and boy, is it an amazing view. We’ve been to this point plenty of times before, but the end of the valley was our goal for this weekend, so we pressed on to the first river crossing.
The Rees river is a braided river system, nothing near as massive as the ones dotted around Tekapo, but you can expect the road to disappear and the river to change often. The first river crossing looked simple enough and we headed on through. It was nothing more than mid-tyre height, a good sign for the rest of the trip. The worst I have crossed it here was water touching my door handles. Safe to say we did two crossings that day and headed home. Today though, the sun was out, the river was low and it really felt like a holiday.
We stared in awe at the surrounding mountains. The eastern side of Mount Earnslaw was an impressive sight. Waterfalls draped off of vertical bluffs, seemingly falling hundreds of meters before crashing into the rock and repeating the process. Hundreds of them worked their way down the landscape and onto the valley floor to join the major river. One I had my eyes on was Lennox Falls. I had previously seen a video that showed off the epic-ness of this waterfall and the possibility to stand at the base of it. Locking that into my sights we pressed on further up the valley to get as close as we could.
The primary trail through the valley is a solid road to follow. It’s only when you reach the river sections that distinguishing the trail from random rocks can be a bit more difficult at first. After a bit of practice though you can start to see the signs. If all else fails, you can simply follow the river up. We did this for a bit before we realised how rough it is rolling over rock, stones and mini boulders. We decide to send the drone up and classically… the trail was only eight metres from us, hidden in the tall grass. Comes in handy having all the filming gear for the channel. Nice to have a bird’s eye view of the area sometimes to see where you’re going or what’s coming up. We followed the trail for a bit and oh how amazing it was to be on a worn track versus the rough rocks of the riverbed. Before long, we were pulling off the track and coming to a stop near Lennox Falls. Back packs on, drones in bags, cameras in hand, we were ready to clamber our way to the base of this waterfall.
We jumped a couple fences and quietly, without disturbing the stock, made our way towards the waterfall’s outlet. There was a bit of a track to follow, and many people had been here. Once at the outlet the track narrows and becomes a bit more of a clamber through massive boulders and under branches that seem to reach out and block your path at every step. It was magnificent in here though. Lush green moss covered almost every surface, the river beside us trickled quietly away in the background. Before long, that trickle was overtaken by the thunder of the falls themselves. Getting closer and closer the thunder became louder and louder. Popping out of the bush at the base of it now we could barely hear each other speak as the entire opening in the canopy was a blast with spray from the falls and the thunderous tone of water crashing down from high above. It was awesome to be in the presence of such energy. I clambered to the very base and poked my head around the corner of a rock to be immediately blasted with the up draft, making it difficult to breathe and quickly becoming soaked through from the spray in the air. This was easily one of the greatest highlights of this trip.
We grabbed a couple photos, got the ol’ polaroid out. Which made us look like we were hiking in the 80s. Then we put the waterfall to our backs and made our way back to the vehicles. Very much a must do in the Rees Valley.
A couple hours on now and we are as far as we can get. The trail eventually vanishes as we tackle the last km before the valley becomes narrow and the river deep. Coming on 3pm now we decided on a relaxing evening and make plans to hunt down a spot to camp. We saddle up onto a nearby plateau on the western side in hopes of the early morning sun to dry the tents out. We parked up, popped the RTTs, stretched out the awnings and dug a pit for a fire. Life is good.
That evening, sitting around the fire yarning I thought to myself ‘A photo of camp right now would be pretty epic’. So I grabbed my camera and wandered out into the field. I snapped the first photo of just camp and then aimed for a wide shot. To our surprise, the sky
was lit up with colour. At first we thought that was a little strange. Grab another photo and sure enough, we were currently witnessing one of the strongest Aurora Australis either of us had ever seen. We continued to spend the next hour changing angles, playing with settings and over all just snapping some amazing photos of the Aurora above our camp. It was even visible to the naked eye. Streams of light pierced the stars above. From the horizon to above our heads, the sky was a shine of white and grey light. Through the camera though, it bought out the colours. Blues, purples, reds, yellows, it was magnificent to see. A night neither of us will ever forget.
The following morning was quiet in the valley. Bird song started to fill the air as the sun rose to the peaks and began to flood the valley. Steam rose from the tussock beneath us and the dew from the tents went with it. We broke into some breakfast and relaxed until mid-morning. Not wanting to have to pop the tents again to dry once we got home and in no rush to leave, we were happy just chilling in the sunshine killing every sandfly we could. Around late morning we started the pack up ritual and loaded the rigs ready for an easy day out.
The Rees valley proved to be an easy trail, a good weekend away from the city to kick back and relax. It had also proved to be far more of an adventure either of us had bargained for. A trip that we will remember for decades to come and a spot both of us will definitely be visiting again. Either side of the river valley are creeks, streams, waterfalls and rivers all in need of exploration. But they will have to wait for another time.
