St. Arnaud, lake Rotoiti and Mount Robert track.

A lot of travellers choose to go straight to the West Coast after arriving in South Island. It is understandable, because of it's undenieable beauty. But there is one place off this route I would suggest everyone to visit.

We had some extra time, so we decided to see Lake Rotoiti (and Yes, there is a lake with the same name in North Island as well). St Arnaud is a small alpine village, so there are not much to do. But it is the perfect base from which to explore the forest and mountains of Nelson Lakes National Park.

Lake Rotoiti is also a great place to relax and enjoy a day at a crystal clear waters, surrounded by beautiful mountains.

We decided to do a Mount Robert Circut. This loop track around the northern face of Mount Robert offers spectacular views over Lake Rotoiti. It is only 9 km long and you can enjoy it as a day or overnight walk.

The trail starts at Mount Robert carpark, and continues up the hill via Pinchgut Track and continues down the hill via Paddy's track. The climb is a bit steep at first, but not too hard.

And after you reach the top it rewards you with the spectacular views in every direction. There are many more trails around, but we are glad that we choose this one. It is a very relaxing place to have a piknik. We were the only ones there, so it felt like a special date.

We decided to walk a little bit further up towards Mount Roberts Ridge walk before continuing the loop down, just to see whats behind hilltop. Turned out there was snow on the other side of the Ridge.

Another awesome thing - Lake Rotoiti from the top of the hill looks like a contour of my country - Latvia.

This is a perfect trail for private and quiet time as it isn't as popular as other trails. It gets a bit busier during the summer months. We were there on Spring so it was perfect.

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