Lake Rotopounamu

Lake Rotopounamu is a crater lake surrounded by beautiful NZ native bush.

Lake Rotopounamu is a full loop track around the lake taking about approximately 2hrs.
We knew we would not have time for the full loop as we had a ferry to catch, so we just walked up to the Kiwi Guardian post and back, just short of half the lake.

You park on one side of the road and then cross over to start the track, be very carefull here as it is a 100km stretch of road so keep kids very close to you.
The start of this track is very steep !! you walk up till you reach a fork in the track that takes you either side of the lake. We headed to the left towards the Guardian post, there was some pretty cool views along the way.

It was not long before we reached the very cool Punga Bridge, it definitely lived up to its name!!
After the bridge you head down towards the lake until you come out on the first wee beach area on the lake front, the whole way along there is so much spectacular bush life to see!! You felt at times as if you had been transported back in time, their was some truly beautiful native bush to be seen.
If you walk along the lake front for a short bit the back up into the bush and around to Long Beach where you will find the Kiwi Guardian post.

We chilled out of a bit exploring the long beach, with the added bonus of there been a toilet !!! always love it when there is a toilet on these walks with kids.

After chilling out for a bit skimming some stones we headed back towards the car, I would have loved to do the full loop but we were pushed for time.

On our way back we were lucky enough to even see a North Island Robin who followed us along the track for a bit. Marcus loves NZ native birds so he was over the moon to have this wee guy following us.

This walk was really beautiful !!!

The bush was truly remarkable, if we had more time it would be am amazing spot to go for a swim at long beach and have a wee picnic before heading the rest of the way around.
You could definitely spend a good few hours if not half a day exploring this lake.

This walk is definitely a bit more of a challenging walk for younger kids. It is steep in parts but if you take your time I am sure kids will love it.