Samara and I left Dunedin two days ago, with very little in the way of a plan. We knew we wanted to hike, but with the weather as unpredictable as it is, we decided to "play it by ear". We arrived in Te Anau (the main city in the Fiordland National Park) in the early afternoon. After checking in with the Department of Conservation, which is in charge of monitoring the safety on the tracks, we decided to do the first portion of the Kepler Track. We were told that it was safe to go up to the first hut, but that there might be avalanche warnings farther out. We bought our hut tickets and we were off!
We quickly stopped at the one and only grocery store in the area to pick up bread, peanut butter, jelly, tuna cans, granola bars, apples, and WINE (all the essentials). We weren't sure whether we would spend 1 or 2 nights so we needed to be prepared for anything! After a delicious cafe lunch, we set off.
It took us 5 hours to get to the top of the mountain. The first hour and 45 was along a flat track next to the shore of Lake Te Anau. The last two and a half hours were up-hill in the forest - yikes!!! I was quite exhausted, but we took a few nice breaks :)
When we finally arrived above the tree-line, the views were magnificent. After huffing and puffing of exhaustion on the way up, the view makes you feel it was all worth it!!! Snow capped mountains, lush greenery, and calm waters. WOW!!!
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| The Luxmore Hut!!! |
We arrived at the hut at the top of the mountain at about 7pm. Upon our arrival at the hut, we found out that there was a nearby cave to explore. SHOUT OUT MOMMY- A CAVE (I know you love them!!!) We went with a guy, Cyrus (from Taiwan) that we met along the way. We lost him in the dark cave since he decided to go deeper and deeper until who knows where! We figure it was okay to leave him since this is a guy who has been living out of his backpack alone for 2.5 years. WHAT A GUY!!!
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| Approaching the Cave!!! |
Samara and I went back to the hut and changed into our warm clothes for the night since there is no heating in the huts so it was freezing! We were lucky to have running water and flushable toilets though, even though it is not peak season. We made tuna sandwiches, had some wine, and I learned to play gin rummy... all by flashlight (there is no electricity in the huts either). We sat by the fireplace, and talked to Cyrus for a little as well. He told us that he makes money by getting odd jobs (i.e. painting other peoples homes) and that he is not worried about running out of money because, and I quote, "People won't let me die". He also explained the concept that he called "dumpster diving". Essentially, grocery stores and gas stations throw out their expired food every now and then. So dumpster diving is the process of going through that food and taking whatever is still edible!!! He recounted a time that he found 30 perfectly good chocolate bars that were thrown out by a gas station. I thought it was quite an adventurous concept (although I'm totally cool with expired chocolate bars). My Kiwi flatmate told me that she has also been dumpster diving before "for fun". Should I be trying this some time?
Anyhow, the next morning Samara and I were the last ones awake (at 9am) and the last ones left in the hut. There were a few hut rangers around setting up for peak season. One of them told us it would be safe to pass to the next hut, but Samara and I were quite cold and tired so we decided to head back down the way we came to Te Anau.
On the way down we saw a GORGEOUS rainbow!
After arriving back in Te Anau about 3 hours later, we stopped in at the travel centre to see what other activities we could do. Ultimately we were too tired to do any more physical activity, and didn't want to see the "nature movie" that EVERYONE (literally like everyone) was recommending to us. It was also the only thing playing at the movie theatre.
So we went back to Dunedin! What a great overnight trip!
