Excellent day of kayaking some 24 km around Lake Manapouri. And the sailing was about ten times more fun than it looks. The guides had a good laugh watching us try and fail to get that sail up over and over…..but we laughed even more!
How beautiful is that?
The fun begins
Hey look, we actually had it going for a minute!
Add comment March 24th, 2003
Kepler Track done. Hiked out today just a few hours ago and I’m now showered and clean and dry in the town of Te Anau. Yesterday was a rather uneventful day of hiking - it rained all morning and I just slogged the 16 km through the bush up to the campsite. Not much more to say about it than that. Met some cool folks at the campsite - one American couple from Boston on their honeymoon, a Dutch guy, and a British guy and American girl. The sandflies were ferocious and we all danced around while eating dinner to avoid being swarmed. A much different experience than the 50 people in the Iris Burn Hut, all cosy with their fire going and everyone playing cards and chatting.
This morning I got up and out by 8am, ready to face the long day ahead. I wanted to get above treeline to do the alpine crossing and then go down and all the way out for a total of 30 km or 19 miles. It was a long day but I did it and that included a 3000-foot climb and descent and a traverse across the ridge to the Luxmore Saddle. There was some wind and rain above treeline but nothing too bad. Very reminiscent of the weather in the White Mountains of New Hampshire - one minute sunny and clear, next minute raining and clouded in. When it was clear the views were great. Eventually the sun won and for the last part of the day it was sunny and warm.
I stopped at the Luxmore Hut for lunch - that’s where most of the folks would have stopped for the night but there was no camping allowed there so I just used it for a pitstop and kept going. The last hour was somewhat tiring but other than that I was feeling good all day. I finally got to the end just after 5pm for a total of 9 hours of hiking. A NZ family in the carpark offered to give me a lift into town and I was very grateful for that. I’m going to bed very soon and tomorrow I am taking a rest day - I deserve it after the last 6 days of tramping!
Alpine Crossing on the Kepler Track
Views from the ridge
Views from Luxmore Saddle
Add comment January 5th, 2003
6:15pm at the campsite and this small 6-person hut. There is no one staying in the hut here (yet) and there are 4 people camping - me, one Scottish woman, and an Israeli couple. Not bad considering it’s only 3 days after New Year’s and still the height of the season.
This morning I was up and out of the motor park by 8am. I walked through town on my way to the DOC office and I stopped to grab a coffee along the way. At DOC I inquired about bookings for the Kepler and they advised me that it was full going the traditional way but if I wanted to do the loop in the opposite direction that there was still camping space available. So I said ok let’s do it. I booked my campsites and then headed out to the road for the 4 km road walk down to the start of the track. Just as I was crossing the street a DOC vehicle pulled out of the parking lot and the 2 guys asked if I needed a lift to the trailhead. Cool! They took me around the Te Anau Lake and to the carpark where the tramp began.
It was just over 3 hours of walking for me today (14.5 km) and the trail was really very pretty, often lined with huge ferns as far as I could see. It was all through the bush today - I won’t be getting above the treeline until the day after tomorrow. Weather was cloudy all day and they are forecasting rain for this evening and tomorrow but as of yet it’s just been cloud.
When I arrived at this hut there was no one here and I set up my tent and then sat on the bench in front of the hut, and as I sat down a falcon flew down the trees and sat himself on a branch just above my head. What a beautiful bird! He just sat there watching me for nearly an hour! I was sure it was a bird of prey but verified my suspicion with the park ranger/hut warden who showed up to check up on the hut. She said it’s very unusual to see a falcon in such low elevations and especially to see one for such a length of time. I guess he finally got bored with me and decided to fly off and that’s what he did. I watched him fly across the lake and into the forest. A great encounter with nature!
Well I guess it was too good to be true to be the only one here - it’s now after 8pm and not only do we have more campers (2 more for a total of 6) but we now have evil boat campers who have motored up and carried cooler after cooler and bag after bag into the little hut and they have been so loud and obtrusive that I have been tempted to shout’GO AWAY!’ more than once already. It’s going to be a long night. Best to get up early and get away from the circus punters as quickly as possible. At least this campsite tonight is free so I’m saving a few bucks and not paying for the crowds. They seem to be French by the way. I’ll be happy when the season dies down a bit down here.
The shores of Te Anau Lake
River Walk
My home away from home
Add comment January 3rd, 2003
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