Like Westies Hut, this one is on my ‘bucket list’. One of our two ‘rest’ days we enjoyed an hour jet boat ride down the Makarora and up the Wilkin as far as the Kerin Forks hut (NZ$119). The other day was spent doing the laundry and getting there! If we had been a little earlier (or had not had sore knees), for NZ$399 (http://www.wilkinriverjets.co.nz/) you can take a helicopter ride around the Mt Aspiring glaciers, view the icebergs in Crucible Lake (summer is calving season!), land at Siberia Hut, walk back three hours to Kerin Forks and jet boat ride back to Makarora. This would be a GREAT day! Or you can walk the full Gillespie Pass circuit. (http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/otago/places/mount-aspiring-national-park/things-to-do/gillespie-pass-circuit/) Plenty of accommodation/food at Makarora, approx 45 minutes from Wanaka. Lots of other walks around there too. And, it IS the gateway to the fabulous West Coast!
