mrsjono

Early start today to cover Peak Hill Route before lunch. Grabbed some breakfast from Super Value at 7am and made our way to Lake Coleridge. Lost our way abit when we hit a private gravel road turns out that was really the way to the start of the track. Passed a paddock of vegetables and it was a straightforward climb up to the ridge. 

Here we go!

We gave up trailing behind Sab and took photos every time we stopped to wait for her. 

At one point we were sitting down for a good 20 mins watching the farmer chase his stock from one paddock to another.

It was exposed at the top; the wind was so strong I couldn't open my eyes or walk straight but I pressed on, after turning around on the Kepler Track I don't want to have another regret today. We pressed on to the summit, the view was not really worth the effort put in. 

Sab was faster than us on the way down. It was supposed to be a 3 hour return walk but we ended up taking 4.5-5 hours. Lunch was at Arabica Methven - the beef burger with fries and the coffee were still alright but the carrot cake was poor. Squeezed in another walk at Mt John. Took a shortcut up to the top only to find a gantry which required $8 to enter. Gates closing at 6pm and it was already 5.15pm when we started walking. Wasted some time walking in wrong direction and lost Sab again when it was already 6 and time to make our way down. 

The weather was fantastic but wind strong I wished I had more time to enjoy the walk. 

Didn't enjoy the church as there were too many Chinese tourists and lupins were dead. Kohan was fully booked so we settled for Korean food. It was already 7.50pm when we set off to Buscot where we had planned to stay for the night. No time to look around Pukaki so I left it for the next day. There was a very anal woman at Buscot who kept staring at us and acting like she's the owner when she's not. The house was very crowded and I was quite relieved both of us were camping outside with no one else around.

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.