This was a lovely trip on a long weekend in July. The Friday was Matariki day, which marks beginning of a new year in the Maori lunar calendar.
We were going to climb Mount Isobel, which summit elevation is 1319m, so, the best option was to stay in a local hotel and start our climbing early morning. We spent our night in Alpine Springs Motel (www.alpinespringsmotel.co.nz) in Hanmer Springs village. The village itself is a beautiful place with Thermal Pools Resort situated in its heart. There is another post about the village you are the most welcome to read it.
Our way to Mount Isobel was coming through a country road towards the Hanmer Springs Ski Resort, however, we didn’t drive all the way to the resort and left our car on Jacks pass parking, which is about 15 minutes of drive from the village. The road is often covered by snow and ice at winter, so, the snow chains are very good idea for 2WD cars. Obviously, it was completely not logical to drive our Jaguar XJ there, so, we used an old Toyota Camry, which was the perfect choice for the trip.
On the Jacks pass parking we changed our boots and clothing and began our climbing. If you are going to climb at winter, appropriate boots and clothing are crucial, be prepared when going for an adventure like that. Apart of clothing, it is important to take enough food and water as well, as let someone know where you are going and what time expecting to be back. Seasoned climbers advise to also take an emergency locator beacon.
A couple of days before our trip we were monitoring the weather to increase our chances for a good views and beautiful icings around plants on the mountain. At the night before a freezing rain came through and created a wonderland… Please, have a look at the pictures below.
At the day of our trip, the barometric pressure trend changed from falling to raising, this gave us relatively calm wind and scattered clouds. The weather was fabulous for the climbing.
My wife and I both like mountains and scenic views, we enjoy waking through snow and enjoying views around us. She took most of the pictures posted here, as she knows how to take stunning pictures. We hope you will enjoy them.
The total distance was around 8km, however, the surface was a bit slippery at times, so, it is a good idea to have sticks when hiking in mountains at winter. The ambient air temp in the village was around +4C when we left it, at the Mount Isobel Summit the air temp was as low, as -6C. That was a beautiful trip into a winter wonderland on Matariki day 2026!
Yes, we built this ‘Snow-Goat’ :)))
If you are curious how to analyze weather for short trips and where to find snow – drop us a message, we will be keen to explain the techniques we use.
You can see pictures with EventsHub’s business card, however, the card has not been left there to prevent littering, we took it back home promoting the right behavior.
We got back to the car around 4pm, had a good meal in Fire and Ice restaurant (www.hanmerhospitality.co.nz) in the village and… gone to the Hot Pools. The ambient air temperature was +2 and quickly dropping, so, we ended up sitting in the hot water (+38C) pools with subzero temp air around us. I would say, this is the best thing you can do after a good hiking.
As known, Matariki is the Pleiades star cluster, apparently, the same Pleiades star cluster in Japan called Subaru, and the automotive brand’s logo shows the same stars.
The stars are extremely bright in New Zealand when the sky is clear. The barometric pressure kept raising and all of the clouds faded away, so, the sky was clear at this night. Everyone knows, no camera can show it however, we tried to take pictures of the sky at night. The night sky with billions of stars recalled my a song from Blackmore’s Night band, which is called Highland:
I’ll be waiting on the Highland
With its wonderful serenity
That’s my way of life
Where the stars glow and the brooks flow
When the mountains on the Highland
And the nature is surrounding me
When the wind blows
That’s all I need, all I need.
Many thanks for reading.
Alex, EventsHub team.