Lake Emily

Time: 3 hours and 10 minutes (approx 60 minutes to Lake Emily)
Distance: 9.7 km (approx 4 km to Lake Emily)
Start: End of an unnamed small gravel road which is off Hakatere Heron Road just before the Jacobs River Bridge
Finish: Same place, it's there and back.
Date: Friday 22nd May 2026

Jane, Linda and I. Off for a pleasant Friday sojourn to Lake Emily. It's a two hour drive from Ōtautahi rāwhiti, with the last leg on the gravel Hakatere Heron Road where I didn't dodge a particulary large pothole. Nevermind. Just before the Jacobs River Bridge, there is a yellow "Te Araroa" sign and a small unnamed gravel road. We parked at the closed gate next to the bubbling brook with the Castle Ridge Station farm buildings opposite. 

The 4WD farm track to Lake Emily starts at the closed gate, and is a very small portion (approximately 0.13%) of the very looong Te Araroa Trail (3000km). It took us a communal effort to open and close the gate because it had to be lifted up to free the latch.  The track here was rutted and muddy. We uneasily skirted around large puddles - nearly sliding in a couple of times.

The trees all around us had dropped their leaves for winter and were coverd in red berries. They looked edible to me but it's risky business to try such things willy nilly. Later, a Google lens search revealed that they were hawthorne berries and definitely edible. Two tame piwakawaka flitted around us, flashing and fanning their tails, so close that we could get decent photos.  They chirped and tweeted nineteen to the dozen.  According to nzbirdsonline.org, they make a "balloon- rubbing" sound, which is not how I would describe it.

Up the hill, past the pond, the low cloud started to lift, the sun peeped out, and the landscape opened up spectacularly.  Big South Island scenery. From here the track was dryish, the unease eased and we gained momentum.

After about an hour of easy walking, we arrived at Lake Emily, one of the Ashburton Lakes at the heart of the Hakatere Conservation Park. The area is called Ō Tū Wharekai  - "Place of the Food House", a reference to its former role as a mahinga kai (key food gathering ecosystem) for the Tākata whenua of Hakatere - local iwi, Kāi Tahu. There are twelve lakes (according to DOC), numerous swamps, fens, kettleholes, seepage wetlands and marshes. Delightful consequences of retreating glaciers. These habitats are unique and vulnerable and home for many species of birds, fish, plants.

From the lake we decided to continue on the Te Araroa Trail for another 25 minutes up to the spur. As we gently climbed, a cold wind sprung up and the tussocks and spaniard grasses/taramea thickened. We had to take care not to be pricked. 

We lingered at the spur which happened to be in the lee of Emily Hill, so there was no wind whatsoever and the sun warmed our souls. We could look east across to the Manuka Range, and north along the Stour River Valley - Manuka Hut is somewhere there.   

Walking back, there were fine views of the lake, dotted with swans.  Jane divulged that she is a former dive champion. I have known her for years and didn't know that. Apparently, one day at the QE2 pool, she did a back flip and a couple of tumbleturns off the 15 meter board and her kids were gobsmacked. Lol. I love that story.   

We were expecting to see an abundance of Te Araroa walkers (either NOBO or SOBO), but the only other human we saw was trundling along on a farm motorbike in the distance. Apparently, if you eat krill (or something that sounds like that), you can be both foxy and interesting.  

The last slippery section before the car felt like a breeze. We hit the road in the dusty Wish, stopping briefly to check out the Māori Lakes. Stunningly beautiful they are - too swampy to walk around though. Back on the gravel Hakatere Heron Road, I managed to dodge the big pothole this time. The Mount Somers General Store had zero food so we continued on to the Staverley Store & Cafe where there was a lost and shivering Jack Russell and two chatty old codgers. When Jane proclaimed that her flat white foam looked positively phallic, one of the old codgers divulged (I don't know why) that that very morning his chihuahua had done a lengthy pooh - which he had measured with a tape measure, and posted a photo on Facebook. Too much information. 

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