Friday, April 17th, Dan's brother Fernando arrived in Dunedin for a week long adventure on the South Island. After picking him up from the airport, we headed towards Queenstown -- lots of scenery we've posted here before, you know, sheep and rolling hills and that sort of thing. Queenstown was fun but we didn't have too much time to spend there continuing on to Te Anau, the gateway to Fiordland.
We decided a three day tramp on the Kepler Track would be a good way for Fernando to get over that jet-lag. The Kepler is a 60 km loop track about 20 minutes from Te Anau. Dan and I were just happy to get out of Dunedin for a while even if the weather wasn't looking great at the beginning of the hike. It's autumn now here which means cooler temperatures but hopefully less rain.
The first day of the Kepler Track (Saturday, April 18th - happy birthday, Joe!), was a 5 hour climb through a very green beech forest. There were ferns and mosses everywhere. It wasn't actively raining but the air was very humid. We stopped for this picture by these beautiful limestone bluffs - they seemed to come out of nowhere after trudging through the forest.
Notice how nice the trail is? The Kepler is one of 9 Great Walks in New Zealand, and they are maintained to a very high standard. This first part of the Kepler looks almost like a sidewalk.
Fernando maybe not loving trudging around with a big pack less than 24 hours after flying from Denver to Dunedin. Or he's just contemplating the loveliness of those ferns.
Finally, we get above the bushline and are able to see Te Anau below us.
And just a short distance after getting above the treeline, we arrive at the Luxmore hut. Yes, they call this a hut. Up to 55 trampers are able to stay at this hut every night - and it is luxury. During the "summer season" which we were at the end of, they provide firewood for heating, electric lights, flush toilets, and gas for cooking. And the alpine parrots, Kea, wake you up in the morning by trying to tear apart the roof. Does it get better than this?
The guys enjoying our spacious bunks. It felt great to take our boots off after the first day's climb. We met a lot of fellow Americans at the Kepler hut along with the usual mix of Kiwis, Germans, and Canadians.
These Kea are mountain parrots and are quite aggressive. The rangers told us not to leave our bags unattended since these guys have been known to rip them apart to get at food. They look amazing - green feathers with red under their wings.
Leaving Luxmore hut on Sunday morning was like walking through a cloud - a light rain and very foggy. After a few hours, the rain stopped and wind blew away the clouds allowing us to see the incredible views. This second day on Kepler the track follows a long, open ridge toward the Iris Burn and descends via a series of zigzags into a hanging valley. The track descends through forest until you get to the Iris Burn hut.
This was definitely the best part of Kepler - the views while walking along the open ridge. The sun coming out from behind the clouds made up for the rain earlier in the day.
If you look carefully you can see that there are stairs built all along this section of the track up to the highest point in this picture. I know it's not very "hard-core" but I love how well they maintain this part of the track. I don't think the dwarves of Moria made these, but they do make you feel like you are walking on the Endless Stairs from Lord of the Rings, especially with the scenery.
Sunday night we eventually made it down the endless switchbacks though another beech forest and finally made it to Iris Burn hut which had to disappoint after staying at Luxmore the night before. Iris Burn is located in a tussock clearing in a river valley which makes it sandfly heaven. We did hear a kiwi calling outside but didn't see any of the elusive birds. During the evening the resident hut warden gave a long, detailed talk about all the different ways he had for killing the local pest, the possum. It was an interesting example of what happens when you leave someone alone in a backwoods hut for months on end. I slept a little uneasy that night - whether it was the headless possum nightmares or itchy sandfly bites, it's hard to say. Monday morning we started our walk out of the Kepler Track.
The third and final day of the Kepler is about 6 hours of walking through fairly flat forest that follows a river.
The ferns are everywhere - no wonder they are a symbol of New Zealand. After the views from the ridges the previous day, the walk through the forest was not very exciting.
We made it! Three days on the Kepler finished. For what is considered a easy hike by some, we were pretty knackered. Time for some dinner in Te Anau before taking a cruise on Doubtful Sound the next day.
We decided a three day tramp on the Kepler Track would be a good way for Fernando to get over that jet-lag. The Kepler is a 60 km loop track about 20 minutes from Te Anau. Dan and I were just happy to get out of Dunedin for a while even if the weather wasn't looking great at the beginning of the hike. It's autumn now here which means cooler temperatures but hopefully less rain.
The first day of the Kepler Track (Saturday, April 18th - happy birthday, Joe!), was a 5 hour climb through a very green beech forest. There were ferns and mosses everywhere. It wasn't actively raining but the air was very humid. We stopped for this picture by these beautiful limestone bluffs - they seemed to come out of nowhere after trudging through the forest.
Notice how nice the trail is? The Kepler is one of 9 Great Walks in New Zealand, and they are maintained to a very high standard. This first part of the Kepler looks almost like a sidewalk.
Fernando maybe not loving trudging around with a big pack less than 24 hours after flying from Denver to Dunedin. Or he's just contemplating the loveliness of those ferns.
Finally, we get above the bushline and are able to see Te Anau below us.
And just a short distance after getting above the treeline, we arrive at the Luxmore hut. Yes, they call this a hut. Up to 55 trampers are able to stay at this hut every night - and it is luxury. During the "summer season" which we were at the end of, they provide firewood for heating, electric lights, flush toilets, and gas for cooking. And the alpine parrots, Kea, wake you up in the morning by trying to tear apart the roof. Does it get better than this?
The guys enjoying our spacious bunks. It felt great to take our boots off after the first day's climb. We met a lot of fellow Americans at the Kepler hut along with the usual mix of Kiwis, Germans, and Canadians. 
These Kea are mountain parrots and are quite aggressive. The rangers told us not to leave our bags unattended since these guys have been known to rip them apart to get at food. They look amazing - green feathers with red under their wings.
Leaving Luxmore hut on Sunday morning was like walking through a cloud - a light rain and very foggy. After a few hours, the rain stopped and wind blew away the clouds allowing us to see the incredible views. This second day on Kepler the track follows a long, open ridge toward the Iris Burn and descends via a series of zigzags into a hanging valley. The track descends through forest until you get to the Iris Burn hut.
If you look carefully you can see that there are stairs built all along this section of the track up to the highest point in this picture. I know it's not very "hard-core" but I love how well they maintain this part of the track. I don't think the dwarves of Moria made these, but they do make you feel like you are walking on the Endless Stairs from Lord of the Rings, especially with the scenery.
Sunday night we eventually made it down the endless switchbacks though another beech forest and finally made it to Iris Burn hut which had to disappoint after staying at Luxmore the night before. Iris Burn is located in a tussock clearing in a river valley which makes it sandfly heaven. We did hear a kiwi calling outside but didn't see any of the elusive birds. During the evening the resident hut warden gave a long, detailed talk about all the different ways he had for killing the local pest, the possum. It was an interesting example of what happens when you leave someone alone in a backwoods hut for months on end. I slept a little uneasy that night - whether it was the headless possum nightmares or itchy sandfly bites, it's hard to say. Monday morning we started our walk out of the Kepler Track.
The third and final day of the Kepler is about 6 hours of walking through fairly flat forest that follows a river.
The ferns are everywhere - no wonder they are a symbol of New Zealand. After the views from the ridges the previous day, the walk through the forest was not very exciting.
We made it! Three days on the Kepler finished. For what is considered a easy hike by some, we were pretty knackered. Time for some dinner in Te Anau before taking a cruise on Doubtful Sound the next day.
No comments:
Post a Comment