kepler track

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i had a week off while jeff was working in tuatapere so i decided to go on my first overnight hike by myself and do the 60km kepler track in fiordland national park. conveniently, most of the national parks in NZ have a good system of huts that you can book. the huts along the kepler track have flush toilets, potable water, bunk beds and gas stoves. this made it quite a bit easier, as i wouldn't have to carry things such as a tent, water filter, etc... i ended up just packing a daypack with my sleeping bag,4 days worth of food (locally dehydrated meals, biltong, instant oatmeal and granola bars), a minimal amount of clothing, and a headlamp.

i left tuatapere on monday and drove north along the scenic highway to te anau( ~ 1 hr15min). after picking up my hut passes at the DOC office, i parked in the longterm lot beside the DOC office and started the walk. it begins with an easy stroll along te anau. it was warm and sunny and i had some beautiful views of the mountains along the lake. my ipod died about 20 minutes into the walk...so it would really just be me, myself and i for four days! (i think jeff was happy to hear this since he dislikes me running/hiking with the ipod on...) after about 45 minutes, i reached the control gates, which is basically a dam between lake te anau and the waiau river. from the control gates, it took about 1hr 15minutes to get to brod bay, where a small campsite is located. i had lunch on the sandy beach at brod bay (peanut butter and jam sandwich, and a granola bar). the sandflies were horrible on the beach! while sitting on the beach, a water taxi dropped off a couple from new york, who were about to embark on the hike, takeout lattes in hand! after having enough of the sandflies, i headed off to 8km climb up towards luxmore hut (~ 1085m elevation) i discovered that i tramp a lot quicker when i am on my own...took 2 hours to get to the hut! the ascent was quite steady; reaching limestone bluffs about 2/3 of the way up. it was so gorgeous when i finally reached the treeline... absolutely clear day with views of all surrounding mountain ranges and lake te anau. luxmore hut was quite nice, with two main bunkrooms. i was lucky to get a bunk in the smaller room with only 12 people and a beautiful view of the mountains. i relaxed on the deck for a few hours - reading and tanning. the hut warden (Jade) gave a very interesting nature talk/walk in the later afternoon (can't believe i was keen enough to go!) she taught us quite a bit about the endangered birds in NZ and the trapping programs that the DOC is involved in to rid the country of introduced predators (eg. stoats, possums, rats, etc...) a lot of the endangered birds in NZ are flightless...they evolved to a point where they lost the ability to fly because there were no native predators in NZ. then, when the british colonized the islands, they brought over animals such as stoats and possums.. these pesty animals then feasted on the poor birds that can't fly, leading to the extinction of many native birds. we also learned about some of the native birds. of particular interest to me was a native alpine parrot called a "kea". these birds (which can fly) are known to be very mischievous and clever; they've been known to unscrew animal traps and pick through people's bags, carrying away anything they can get away with.

following the nature talk, i headed with my new friends (from new york) to luxmore cave, which is about a 10 minute walk from the hut. the limestone cave was quite large and cold. we explored the cave quite a bit (thanks to richard)...crawling into small spaces, under huge stalactites. afterwards, it was back to the hut for a delicious rehydrated meal of "hot beef curry" with rice. the meals that i brought were meant for 2 people, so my plan was to eat half and save the remaining portion for the next day's lunch. everyone seemed to be entertained by me rationing out my meal in tupperware. after supper, we (richard+rahat from NYC, asa and mary from SF and martina from germany) chatted on the deck before heading to bed.

sleeping in a bunkroom with lots of people makes it pretty easy to be an early-riser. i woke up to the noise of people packing up.... thanks to them, i was able to catch the beautiful sunrise over the lake. after some oatmeal and tea, i started the alpine leg of the trip. this stretch from luxmore hut to iris burn hut is about 16 km. the first section is an ascent towards mount luxmore. i decided to take some extra time and hike up to the summit. the day was clear, and i was lucky to have beautiful panoramic views. afterwards, the hike went up and down along an alpine ridge, passing two emergency shelters along the way. the weather report for the day had called for possible rain later in the day, so i decided to truck on as quickly as i could. i can't explain how incredibly stunning the views were. after the second shelter (hanging valley), the descent to iris burn began. this started with several sets of stairs....then, once the treeline was reached, the trail continued with steep, short, knee-pounding switchbacks. total hike time for day 2 was 4 hrs 15 minutes. the hut at iris burn is in a valley full of sandflies. i had leftover beef curry for lunch. most of the afternoon i spent in the dining hall of the hut reading about DOC hikes and chatting to martina, asa and mary. for supper i had honey soy chicken (another rehydrated meal.... not so yummy....) ended up staying in the same bunkroom as my friends from NYC, SF, and also a group of seniors from australia.

next morning, i was able to sleep in a bit later (til 830)... had oatmeal for breakfast and then started day 3. there is an optional short hike in the opposite direction to a waterfall which i contemplated not doing (it would add another hour to the day's hike) , but decided spontaneously to check out at the last minute. it was much grander than i had expected so i am glad that i made the effort. after returning from the waterfall, i started walking around 10:15am towards the next hut (motarua) located on lake manapouri. this part was a very gradual downhill and quite easy terrain, though by the end of it, my feet were aching! i was so happy to finally get tot he hut at 2pm. after having leftover honey soy chicken (tasted better today for some reason), i chatted with my friends from SF and also a guy from melbourne that had flown over for a week just to do the track and "check it off the list". he had brought a jar of vegemite which i contemplated trying, but couldn't bring myself to do it after taking a whiff of the yeast spread. a lot of people had gone swimming in the lake, but i had not been planning to go in. somehow richard and rahat managed to twist my arm into going for a dip. it took a while for me to ease my way into the cool water...but once in, it was so refreshing!

for supper i had hot curry beef again, and ate the entire meal this time, as i would be finishing the hike the next day. ended up securing a bunk room with the usual suspects (couple from SF, the geriatric crew, and a german family.) did not get much sleep this night as one of the people in the room was snoring extremely loud. as well, there were some mosquitos buzzing about.

the next morning, i was the last to awake and the last to leave the cabin (around 9:30am). the last 20km were relatively flat, through lush beech and fern forest. the trees were quite nice, but there was nothing particularly stunning about this final stretch (especially compared to the alpine views the other day). i had considered exiting at the rainbow reach suspension bridge after 1.5 hours, but then decided to complete the remaining 12 km by foot (instead of shuttle, which many people opt to do.) i speed-walked (thanks to the super light backpack) and made it to my car by 1pm. again, another sunny warm day.

drove back to tuatapere and stopped in clifden to check out the renowned >100 year old suspension bridge. then i stopped to by some fresh hen eggs from someone's house at the side of the road.

i made it back to tuatapere in time to meet jeff and headover to the info centre to pick up our maps for the humpridge track, a 3 day 53km track which we will both be doing beginning tomorrow!

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Photos

lake te anau
beginning of track, near parking lot. 2nd largest lake in NZ

brod bay
you can take a water taxi or walk here

bunks - luxmore hut
i slept on the top right, and my friends from NY slept beside my. below us were a geriatric hiking club group from australia (they were at least 75 yrs old and in amazing shape!)

evening view of lake te anau
from luxmore hut deck