The Routeburn

This labour weekend i was tramping on the Routeburn track. It is 32km long and passes through Aspiring national park and Fiordland national park










The scenery was amazing, probably the best ive ever seen! I got some pics for proof. I went with Jane Mackay, Nicola, Brent, and a couple of guys who Jane knew from Gore - Blake and Ben. They were great guys, both into outdoor adventure stuff like climbing mountains. It was cool having them with us cause they knew lots of stuff about the area.

Highlights were:

Going for swims on three different occasions in freezing cold but refreshing mountain streams/waterfalls/lakes - in that order.

Having breakfast at sunrise on Sunday morning:



Climbing up a snow covered hill (Conical hill). it really should be called a mountain i think, it was big enough. This part was a bit freaky at times, as the snow was icy and slippery in places and the fall down did not look nice. plus i only had cross trainers on and the others had proper boots. Ben gave me his special hiking poll which helped. the views at the top were worth it. Though it was great i was happy when we got down on to solid ground.


Meeting Jane’s parents. We stayed with them on their farm just out of Gore, they were so hospitable and Jane’s mum has the best baking!!! Coffee walnut shortbread! (this was a revelation to me, as i didn’t know shortbread could come in different flavours) Plus they were so amazing that they drove Nicolas' car from the end of the track we started at to the other side where we finished!! they are sheep farmers so I asked them questions about sheep, like what’s up with those black ones.

Seeing the Keas, there were a few at different places along the tack, they are a really nice green colour and they come quite close to ya.

The drive back along the Milford rd to Te Anau, a very scenic drive through some forests and plains and mountains near by.

Numerous spectacular views of mountains and rivers. I am desensitised to it all now:





Good company, Me and Jane sang Elton John and Justin Timberlake songs as we tramped (nothing to be ashamed of really). Me and Nicola and a random Scottish chick swam a lap around lake Mackenzie (well ok not the whole lake, but still we were in the water for at least 5 min! thats an effort i say). Blake and Ben were like mountain goats, they helped me climb conical hill by making foot holes in the snow. Brent gave me some chocolate, and he made a rather tasty biscuit dough out of milo and milk powder.

left to right: Ben, Blake, Jane, Nicola, Brent

The weather! considering it rains 200 days a year in Fiordland, us getting 3 amazingly clear days was pretty special. Jane and Blake had done this track before when it was raining, they said most of the time they couldnt see any of the views we saw this time.

We had really good food! Nicola and Jane had planned our dinners, they did a great job! We looked after our own breakfast and lunches. Had steak stirfry first night and lental stew thing on second (tastes better than it sounds), plus lots of chocolate.

Lastley does this hill in the middle of the valley remind anyone of the location for the castle in Rohan in Lord of the Rings?