No road reaches it. The country here is high, wet and wild, with beech forest, alpine lakes and jagged peaks, and the Humboldt mountains stand over it like a wall. A rider arrives on the lake road and looks up at it from below.
Glenorchy is the end of the road, a village of a few hundred people at the head of Lake Wakatipu, named by Scottish settlers in the 1860s after a glen in Scotland. The village has a cafe, a pub, a small shop and a lagoon with boardwalks and birdlife, and it is the gateway to some of the finest walking in the country. A handful of tour operators run jet boats and horse treks, and in autumn the poplars along the road turn gold, making the place glow.
The lake road itself is one of the great rides of the South Island. It runs for forty-odd kilometres from Queenstown, hugging the shore in a series of bends, with the water on one side and steep hills on the other, and the views of the lake and the peaks beyond are superb. The surface is good, but the road is narrow and winding, with sheer drops in places, and it can be busy with tour buses in summer. In the morning, mist lies over the lake, and the light is soft.
For food, Glenorchy has a few simple places to eat, so a stop for lunch is easy, though there may be a wait in the busy season. Fill up in Queenstown, since fuel at the head of the lake is limited, and carry layers, as the weather changes quickly. Sandflies are common near the water, so bring repellent. The light in the evening, with the mountains turning pink and the lake still, is a fine reward.