The Routeburn Track

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October 3 - After a hearty breakfast at the Kinloch Lodge, we headed for the Routeburn Track, one of the most popular tracks in New Zealand. The full track is 32 km long, and we were doing just a portion of it. Near this area is where the scenes for Isengard in LOR were filmed. The track is a long, gradual uphill. Thick, mossy brush and ferns grow along the edge of a very steep valley that contains a clear aquamarine stream. There were a few suspension bridges along the path we followed that spanned this stream.



The track had been altered since Brian was on it last. It now went up the mountain, skirting the marsh-filled flat. Perhaps this was done so the track would not get flooded out when there were heavy rains, but it meant we couldn’t get a good view of the mountains. Brian, however, was undaunted and found the old trail he remembered and led us out to the flats which gave a misty view of the surrounding mountains above. We ate lunch here. It was rather wet and cool, and there few places to sit that weren't soggy, but it was quite beautiful. (You could really imagine some hobbits and their friends making their way through the Misty Mountains.)



There's hut that lies further up the trail that holds 80 people. Last night five inches of snow fell at the higher elevations. As this was not yet high season and the weather was not great, there few on the trail. This meant we were mostly alone, allowing us to fully appreciate this wild place.



From here we headed to Lake Wanaka which required driving over the Crown Road, the highest pass in New Zealand. This two-lane road with numerous hair-pin turns goes up and over the Crown Range. The vistas from this road are breath-taking -- and my breath was taken away several times as we rounded one tight turn after another! (That’s what happens when you’re driving on roads that might be icy or wet with summer tires!)



Finally, we arrived at our destination, the Grand Mecure Oakridge Resort in Wanaka. This would be our home for the next six nights, and I was really looking forward to the hot tubs!

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Beauty around every corner
What a photo. Keep them coming.