More South Island, New Zealand: A spot of walking, some big blocks of ice and a drop of wine

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Walking the Kepler Track

Having not managed to get places on the very popular Milford Track, we'd decided to have a go at the Kepler track instead. We arrived in the small town of Te Anau and took a day sorting out our stuff and making sure we had enough food and snacks to last us four days and then set out on our next adventure through some of New Zealand's most spectacular scenery.

The Kepler is one of New Zealand's special 'Great Walks'. This means that aside from having a variety of amazing scenery, very well maintained tracks, and being a bit oversubscribed, the track is in great condition and the huts on the way have all mod cons including flushing toilets, gas stoves and an on site warden. There is however no bar and you do still have to carry all food, utensils and rubbish.

We started out early, sharing our standard tramping breakfast of tea and porridge with hundreds of pesky sandflies on the banks of Lake Te Anau, before heading off on a steep climb which took us right above the bush line and into beautiful alpine scenery where we spent our first night in Luxmore Hut. Theoretically we were above the height of low lying cloud, but since it was blue skies all round, we weren't really able to appreciate this and had to make do with stunning views of the mountain ranges and lakes around us instead. Hard life!

The next day began with clear skies but there were some rather strong gusts of wind which made the alpine crossings a little tricky at times as we had to grab hold of passing rocks or else sit down to prevent being blown off of high ridges. As we descended back below the bushline, rain set in and we just about managed to get to the next hut before getting a drenching. Unfortunately Emma's boots, twelve years and thousands of miles after she bought them, aren't quite what they were, and the long walks seem to be taking their toll on her toenail and blister count. Subsequently she had to wear flip flops for latter parts of the walk, but fortunately the ground was firm enough to allow this, and in the absence of river crossings and boggy fields it worked out fine.

The next day we continued on over flatter ground and reached our next hut by Lake Manapouri in good time. As is often the way in the South of New Zealand when next to large expanses of water, we again found ourselves in the company of thousands of sandflies which readily found us and started nibbing on exposed skin leaving nasty itchy bites. It seems that the only successful deterrant for the midges is being submerged in water. Well, that was all the persuasion we needed and soon found ourselves semi-immersed in the icy waters of the lake, just to get some respite from the little blighters, before lighting an evening fire to try and smoke them off the beach!

The next day was Emma's birthday and despite being in the middle of nowhere, Chris still managed to come up with some lovely presents and a cake fashioned out of a cereal bar with melted chocolate on it (complete with candles). The day's hike was through beech forest and did necessitate some bog dodging for those who were wearing flip flops, before we finally made it out to Te Anau for a much needed shower and a plate of chips. From there, we caught a bus for a couple of hours to Queenstown, where Emma's birthday continued with a giant DIY plate of nachos and a bottle of fizz before feeling a bit old and deciding that further celebrations could be postponed until after a good night's sleep.

We spent a couple of nights in Queenstown. As an extension of Emma's birthday we had a slightly extravagant wine and cheese tasting evening which was very enjoyable even if Bob did imbibe a little more than is recommended for the average ram. We also went boot shopping for Emma. It seems that her feet are a little bigger than they were a few years back which might explain some of the blisters. We soon found a much comfier pair of boots that should hopefully permit a few nice long blister free walks.

In Queenstown the weather was fine and sunny. With warm weather set to continue for the week to come, we wasted no time in arranging our next walk to make the most of the dry spell, and began arrangements to walk the Rees-Dart Track, a slightly more challenging tramp in Mount Aspiring National Park.

The Rees-Dart Walk and Franz-Josef Glacier


Aside from the various bits of shopping, burger eating and wine slurping in Queenstown, we did manage to find time to organise our next trip and so, well fed and rested, we set out a couple of days later to 'Muddy Creek', where we started the Rees-Dart track, another five day walk in a beautiful and remote region surrounded by snowy peaks and glaciers. Fortunately, it's also a walk on which it's nearly impossible to get lost. The first two days were spent following the Rees River through a valley, wading through streams and bog on the way, before we crossed a high saddle and then started to follow the Dart River to the end of the walk at 'Chinaman's Bluff'. The actual walk took only four days, but we allowed ourselves a 'rest day' in the middle. Not exactly a rest, we used the day to do a separate walk up to Cascade Saddle, a difficult 9 hour round trip with plenty of steep climbs and clambering up to the snow line. Fortunately we didn't have to carry our packs for that one and leaving them at Dart Hut, we certainly enjoyed a day feeling somewhat lighter than is usually the case. The climb was well worth it with great views over the giant (but retreating) Dart Glacier and surrounding mountain ranges.

Staying in DOC huts, there were several others doing exactly the same trip and so we had good company in the evenings, comparing notes on the walk and seeing what other people carry as trekking food aside from dried pasta meals, instant noodle sandwiches and cereal bars which seem to make up our staple diet.

At the end of our walk we stopped one night back in Queenstown where we had a much needed 'Fergburger' (something of a Queenstown institution), before heading north to the small settlement of Franz Josef. Most people go to Franz Josef to fly over the glacier in a helicopter before donning some crampons and going for a short stroll over it, however it turns out that in order to do this, we'd probably have to remortgage and so we took the less commercial option of going for a walk up a nearby mountain to some viewpoints where we got great views of the huge Franz Josef glacier for the cost of a lunchtime picnic. Alongside use of the free spa pool at our hostel, it turned out to be an altogether worthwhile stop

We had planned to continue our walking with a two day trip up to Welcome Flat hot springs, but unfortunately the weather had decided to stop being kind to us and it started to tip down with rain. With numerous river crossings, the way upto Welcome Flat would probably be impassable and so we scrapped this plan and subsequently decided to head back up to Nelson on our way towards getting the ferry across to the North Island.

Back in Marlborough

Fortunately Nelson and the Marlborough region were, as ever, warm and dry. We spent a day in Nelson going to a 19th century replica village, which as it turned out, wasn't too disimilar from villages in some regions of New Zealand in the present day. Otherwise we managed drinks at a former church which had been converted into a bar and a trip to a rather compact cinema (18 seats available and a rather small screen), before getting the bus the next day back to the town of Blenheim where we had spent Christmas six weeks previously.

In Blenheim, we stayed at the Laundy's house again. With Gill away and Trevor at work, we were quite content to amuse ourselves, doing some sightseeing and making the most of being in a house rather than a hostel with Emma doing some baking and evenings spent watching DVDs (we managed to get through the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy). Out and about we visited a chocolate factory and hired bikes, cycling round as many local vineyards as is possible in seven hours. This turned out to be quite possibly the most fun we've had on two wheels, further enhanced by a picnic lunch on a shady lawn outside a vineyard on, what turned out to be, a glorious sunny afternoon. Cycle wine tours are highly recommended for anyone passing through this part of the world!

All good things must come to an end, including our adventures on the South Island, and so with sore heads and slightly heavier bags (now containing a few extra bottles of wine), we left Blenheim, getting the bus to Picton and then the ferry onto Wellington where we'll begin our next adventures exploring the North Island.

Things we have learned on our recent travels around the South Island


Sandflies are a pest and there are few ways to get rid of them aside from submerging yourself in water and hoping that they don't have scuba equipment. (Another suggested method is to buy a nice bottle of whisky, cover yourself in it and then roll in some sand. When the sandflies arrive to bite you they all get drunk and throw rocks at each other.)

It is illegal to ride a bicycle without a helmet in New Zealand, however drinking copious amounts of wine and wobbling your way from one vineyard to the next is apparently perfectly acceptable

Emma's feet have got bigger over the last twelve years necessitating a new pair of boots. She argues that this is something that can happen naturally over time. Chris worries she is turning into a hobbit.

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