Moke Lake is a loop track around the lake of the same name, and it is best walked anti-clockwise. The main route is fairly simple and will suit anyone of any age and any level of fitness, children included.
You may notice, though, that I gave the route a difficulty of "easy+". That is because I am also covering a lookout that sits close to the main track but requires a 200 metre climb up a not particularly good trail. Leave that part out and the track really is very easy.
This report has photos both from the lookout and from the loop, taken at different times of year. We were up top in summer when everything was green, and walked the loop in late autumn when the grass had already gone yellow.
As soon as you park, there is already a view of the lake and the mountains around it. Last time we were there the weather was on our side: there was hardly any wind, and all those mountains were reflected in perfectly flat water.
From the car park you cross a small bridge and follow a worn path along a farm fence. To get up to the lookout, 600 metres in you need to turn right and head at right angles to that same fence. The lookout has become fairly popular in recent years, so there is already a trodden path.
After that you walk another 200 to 300 metres, and in front of some small trees and shrubs you will see the track split: one branch carries on along the fence, the other turns sharply left and up. Ours is the left one.
Losing the way here is difficult, the track is easy to see, and there are no trees to get lost among. The climb is very steep and narrow in places, so anyone who does not walk much may find it hard going. But if you do not rush it, it is manageable and worth doing. I went up with my father, who barely hikes at all, so it is realistic.
It is about twenty minutes of crawling upwards, but from the top there is a stunning view over the lake, and also of Wedge Peak and Walter Peak, which stands in the distance on the far side of Lake Wakatipu.
You can take your photos, sit for a while, and head back down. Go carefully and take your time on the way down: as I said, the gradient here is steep.
Once you are back down from the lookout, return along the fence to the main track and carry on around the loop.
From there the track is good and wide with a gentle climb. As you go, new angles open up on your left, with different mountains reflected in the lake.
After about another kilometre and a half you come out into a field of tussock (tall clumps of grass), and there is a junction: straight on or left. Straight on the road leads to another lake, Lake Dispute. We did not go there, because it would have been too much of a detour. Left is the continuation of our track.
This is another good spot for a few photos.
Then there is a small climb over roughly a kilometre, and you arrive at a junction in front of a small stretch of forest. Right takes the track on towards the end of the route, while straight ahead you can go into the forest and come out on the shore opposite the one you started from. It is a good place to rest and eat, and to look at yet more mountains reflected in the lake.
The forest and the spot itself reminded me faintly of the Gamov Peninsula in Primorsky Krai, and specifically of Telyakovsky Bay. The likeness is slight and comes down to the vegetation: there you have the sea and gnarled pines, here you have water, conifers, and an absence of grass and shrubs.
That is broadly where the interesting part of the route ends. From here you carry on along the track beside the lake. It is another three kilometres or so back to the car park. After the forest you drop down off the hill, and there is no more climbing after that. Here is a photo of the last good view before the descent.
At one point the track joins the gravel road and you have to walk about 500 metres along it, so take care. The whole route will take you somewhere between an hour and a half and three hours, depending on whether you go up to the lookout or not.
So, a short track. The views are not as staggering as somewhere like Mount Cook, but the drive from town is short and it does not ask much of you. Worth keeping in mind for a day when you do not want to sit at home but do not want to suffer on something hard either.