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.