mrsjono

Waitangi long weekend in Canterbury. I haven't booked any accommodation for our stay tonight as I waited to see how the weather would turn out for today. Finally got through the Rakaia Gorge camp ground number in the morning while I was at work. The man on the line was grumpy (I think I woke him up from his sleep) and said his office closes at 8.30pm. I tried Methven camp ground and was relieved the owner was happy to let us stay despite our late arrival. Had shower in the office at around 3pm and headed straight to airport after work for our 6.10pm Jetstar flight to Christchurch. Checked in two bags with combined weight of 15kg without problem. Arrived in Christchurch at 7pm sharp. Picked up rental car at Sudima - it was a 2013 red Toyota Corolla hatchback. Charged to Methven, racing against the sun set. It was around 9pm when we got to the campsite and put up our tent before it got completely dark. There weren't many guests; it was quiet and there was no wind. 

This was 6.50am the next morning, packed up and ready to go!

Breakfast at Sandfly Cafe was good; we have limited access to electricity when camping so it's a luxury to be able to each have a power point to charge our devices while we're out and about. The coffee was still as good as I remembered it when I visited this cafe in 2013. I was just saying we can take "customers" today as we didn't have our foldable mattress in the back seat and a hitchhiker really appeared shortly after we set off from Te Anau Lakeview Holiday Park. We stopped without hesitation and picked up Nicole, a biostatistician from Sydney. She had been waiting awhile for a ride and this was her first time hitchhiking. She had just finished the Dusky Track (which she said was very muddy) and was going to run the Caples Track for the first time. Our initial plan was to sightsee along SH94 until we get to the end of the road at Milford Sound but decided to send Nicole all the way to The Divide and begin our sightseeing from Milford Sound instead. During the one hour journey, she shared many stories with us including her recent attachment to a Scottish guy and her plans to move to Christchurch. After dropping her off at The Divide, we continued on to Milford Sound where there were bus loads of tourists and it was difficult to find parking. 

 

View from the easy Milford Sound Lookout track

I'm not sure if I would ever pay for a cruise here as I would like to remember the Fiordland based on my Milford Track experience, not a commericalised cruise with tons of tourists around.

A woman appeared to have made her way into the waters from the foreshore walk

The Chasm

One of the two foot bridges along the easy Chasm walk where you get to peer down at water swirling down into a deep hole.

 

I suppose before the Homer Tunnel was built, people would have to walk the Milford Track in order to reach Milford Sound. 

Some photo opportunities before crossing the tunnel

I think this might be the Gertrude Valley Lookout

Lake Marian Falls (or rather cascades)

Passed by a massive patch of lupins 

Turns out there were quite a number of vehicles camping in the lupin bushes

 

Mirror Lakes looking rather pathetic on a cloudy day

Same for Eglinton Valley

Finally have a photo of my lantern lighting up our tent at night!

After resting for five days following the Routeburn Track, we were ready for the Kepler Track which we did over the new year. This was our 6th Great Walk and also the last one we have decided to do during our time in New Zealand. Unfortunately we were not able to complete our final one due to the weather. In 2013, I was fortunate enough to walk the other end of the Kepler Track from Rainbow Reach to Shallow Bay Hut so overall I could say that I had covered around half of the entire track. This walk was also particularly "memorable" as I wasn't expecting my period to arrive and I had no supplies with me!!! 

 

Parked next to a white car with a rubber duckie on its roof 

Lake Te Anau early in the morning

 

Got up at 5.15am to get ready and off we go at 7am!

It was a very hard climb up to Luxmore Hut; I had to stop many times. I felt like limestone bluffs were on my back during the steep climb up for approximately 3.5 hours. 

In the last one hour from the bushline to the hut, rain started to get heavier and the last 20 mins was quite wet. 

Approaching Luxmore Hut - relieved that shelter is not far away

We were really the first to reach at 11.15 am, there were still two people from the previous night who have not left for Iris Burn. 

The thoughtful ranger left some energy bars and lollies on each table 

and decorated the hut with some festive cheer with the limited resources available in the wilderness.

The best part of this track was the sumptuous food we brought lol

Rotted for 6 hours before tearing open our freeze dried dinner - thai chicken curry. Rui very kindly offered to go back down and grab some pads for me but considering how difficult the climb was, I decided it was better for me to go beg for some supplies later.

View from Luxmore Hut

As the hut started to fill up with more guests, I went round asking prospective females for supplies - how embarrassing. I grew hopeful when I spotted a Japanese lady amongst the crowd. Sure enough, she had some to spare - life saviour! Word had spread around the village; me the pad beggar became so "famous" that a lady approached me instead and asked if I needed any more as she had some to spare too. Managed to get two tampons and two pads by the end of the day. Woke up once at night and the leak wasn't too bad considering I didn't have any long night pads.

 

The next day, weather still did not improve after we finished breakfast. People were starting to leave for Iris Burn and we still have not made up our minds. In the end, we decided to leave our packs in the hut and we would walk to the second emergency shelter (which I don't think we eventually did) then head back down to the carpark since it will be too windy and wet to camp and we won't be able to see anything in the poor weather anyway. 

The notorious keas lurking around

The unexpected appearance of a rainbow amidst such wild and wet conditions offered some comfort and encouragement to press on.

It started to get really uncomfortable and wet as we walked without our packs, the wind was so strong it was difficult to stand properly. We saw a couples' rain covers flew off their packs and felt sorry we couldn't help save it. I felt it was the right decision at that point in time to turn around as it felt too risky trying to cross the precarious and exposed ridge with my pack in such adverse condition and very low visibility. (Last night during the hut talk, the ranger said two men recently slipped and died while attempting the track in bad weather conditions. I was definitely scared after hearing this!) What's in front of us looked like a landslide; the track was very narrow with little space for any margin of error. I wanted to head back even before reaching the first emergency shelter and the furthest we went was until the foot of Mt Luxmore summit. 

This was the furthest we went. We turned around and walked back to Luxmore Hut, passing a few more groups pressing on. 

It was disappointing we didn't finish this time but what an adventure! We did the best we could and stayed within our limits.

After lunch, we took as many photos as we could in the strong winds while still on the ridge.

 

Tussock covered ridgelines 

Happy New Year from Kepler!

 

Felt so much better after entering the bushline. It was a completely different world! Met a couple from Canada and we updated them of the conditions and our experience up there. They decided to turn around too lol.

Took 4 hours to reach the carpark (he might have lost his slippers here) and managed to secure a tent site at Te Anau Lakeview Holiday Park for tonight.

 

Had an expensive Chinese meal for dinner and of course a good hot shower.

Super clear and warm day today - weather forecast was spot on. Had breakfast in Wanaka again before heading to Queenstown via the Crown Range. Wasted some time getting into Queenstown; it was so hard to find a parking lot. Bought some bread for the next few days of lunch along the Kepler Track and gave up on the gaiters when the sales man said they won't work for normal shoes. 

An interesting stop along the Crown Range Road - The Cardrona bra fence

 

Also known as Bradrona, there is a pink donation box to raise funds for the NZ breast cancer foundation.

 

Love the way tourist attractions just developed organically over the years at minimal costs!

One of the main lookout on the Crown Range Road, probably at the summit.

After collecting our hut tickets in Te Anau, we bought some fried rice from Ming Garden and checked in to Bob & Maxine's Backpackers. 

They own a pack of alpacas - they were just opposite the above main building. 

Packing our bags for another big walk tomorrow!

Didn't have a good sleep last night because the man near us was snoring loudly in his tent. After a good breakfast in Wanaka, the sky was cloudy so I decided to go up Isthmus Peak (5-6 hours return) the next day which is forecast to be sunny. But later on I forgot it was going to be a long drive (3-4 hours) to Te Anau and there wouldn't be enough time to pick up our Kepler Track hut tickets before the Fiordland National Park visitor centre closes. Oh bugga, till next time Isthmus. Dropped by the Wanaka tree and checked out the lavender farm before moving on to Lake Hawea in the afternoon. 

 

Occasional rain and gale in exposed places was forecast over the new year when we will be on the Kepler Track. So far we've been quite lucky with the weather during our walks and the weather forecast around Luxmore Hut was making me quite apprehensive about whether we should still go ahead with the Kepler Track. We dropped by the Mt Aspiring National Park visitor centre for some advice and the DOC lady who sounded very familiar and experienced with several tracks in the area was helpful and gave us good advice. I walked away feeling more assured and prepared for what's to come. 

After setting up our tent in Hawea, we went for a walk along the lake, people watched and he decided to go for a swim. 

A spectacular place to be swimming in - pristine waters and surrounded by mountains 

According to him, the water is clear and doesn't taste salty. A colleague told me Hawea is a glacier lake and the water originated from the mountains.  

The girls had some difficulty getting their kayak out onto the water and he gave them a hand and asked if he could have a go in it later.  

Row row row your boat~

After a little row around, he returned to shore while the girls went out with their inflatables.

I am amazed that people here are so comfortable with their natural environment since young and they are so fortunate to be able to relax in such a beautiful setting. 

Lake Hawea Holiday Park was busy as well with many families and children. While using an abandoned jetboil stove (the owner had left a 'free' note on it) to cook our dinner, the flame turned out too big and melted a bit of the plastic handle on our Kathmandu pot. He started to get grumpy again.

Other than the above unhappy incident, we had a pleasant stay at Lake Hawea Holiday Park.