A Tiki Tour! - including Mt Earnslaw

Wikipedia says Mount Earnslaw, also known by its Maori name of Pikirakatahi, is a 2819 m mountain in New Zealand's South Island. It is named after Earnslaw (formerly Herneslawe) village in the parish of Eccles, Berwickshire, hometown of the surveyor John Turnbull Thomson's father.

Mount Earnslaw is within Mount Aspiring National Park at the southern end of the Forbes Range of New Zealand's Southern Alps. It is located 25 kilometres north of the settlement of Glenorchy, which lies at the northern end of Lake Wakatipu.

The pilot of the plane I flew on today, from Queenstown to Christchurch, took us on a 'tiki tour' (kiwi slang), a trip where instead of going directly from A to B you make detours and side trips, going to places you didn't intend going when you set out. I can't say that I was sorry about this!

Mt Earnslaw, a singularly majestic and imposing mountain, is a breathtaking sight, when you drive around Bennett's Bluff, on the road from Queenstown to Glenorchy, at the head of Lake Wakatipu.

I've tramped and climbed in this area many times, and have actually made it to the top of Mt.Earnslaw a couple of times - at present it feels as though it was in another life! Both times I climbed via the West Peak (the one on the right). I stayed in the Kea Basin rock bivvy, part of the way up Mt. Earnslaw, in order to get an early start on the day of the climb. Needless to say, the views are stupendous and awesome. It feels like you could see forever, particularly on a day like today. Both days I was up there were like this! - once with my No.2 son, and the 2nd time with a bunch of friends from Queenstown.

I've marked the approximate place on the map. A topo map would offer a better alternative.