An Adventure Above The Clouds

After welcoming Mum and Dad to Hahei on the Coromandel Peninsular, they took themselves off for a tour of the Northlands all the way to Cape Reinga, before heading back down to Auckland. During their last visit, we took on the mighty Routeburn Great Walk - a multi day tramp across some of the South Island's back country. So how can we top that? Well - how about some bigger mountains, more lakes and an extra night of bunking? Welcome to what could well be one of the most beautiful blogs we put up of New Zealand; the Kepler Track. A 60km, 3 night adventure above the clouds.

First up, an early doors flight down to Queenstown. Then a bus to Te Anau. Then track transport to the trail head - the downside of walking into the wilderness! Here we are at the start of our adventure - the rare folk going anti-clockwise, as we couldn't get to the first hut in time for bed otherwise! Fresh eyed, sweet smelling and fully stocked with proper food and whisky.

Kepler-ing Copes

 After a short first day, due to most of it being spent in transit, we got to the hut after only a couple of easy hours by the lake side. The huts are all basic - no hot water, the cold water is drinkable rainwater, stoves for cooking (but no things to cook with) and mattresses to sleep on. Just enough to make the bags light enough!

FEED ME!

Catching the sunset by the lakeside

  I suffered quite a bit in the shared dorms last year (including the 4 person bunk where I had my wife on one side, and my mum on the other - growing up in Lincolnshire was good training for such occurrences) but the worst bit is the snoring. This year I took whisky, sleeping tablets, ear plugs and industrial ear defenders. Bingo - I was out like a light each night. After a breakfast of fruity porridge, we were up and off to head up the valley to our next hut.

Heading across Big Slip - the site of a big slip.

 And stayed the night in lush forests with this freezing waterfall just nearby - time for a quick dip and freshen up.

The local baths

 Before tucking in to a dinner of thai green curry and rice, followed by a game of scrabble. Congratulations to Sarah - the reigning Routeburn champion defended her title!

Deep in thought...

 After two days of warming up, it was time for the big climb. Most of NZ's Great Walks are old logging and mining tracks used by men for hundreds of years. The Kepler was purpose built about 20 years ago, so it takes in as much variety of forests, birds, lakes and rivers as possible. A lot of the other walks just go up and over mountains, as they're A to B - this one promised to be a bit more special with a ridge walk, but we had to get up there first! It was a foggy start - not particularly promising for good views...

Gorillas in the mist

 But the higher up we went, the more it looked like we might get above the clouds...

Let there be light

 And it looked like we might not be disappointed - the walk is billed as an adventure above the clouds. I'd agree with that.

The bottom's somewhere down there

 The local parrots kept us company wherever we were...

Catching a few rays

 With the Copes regrouped at the top, it was time to enjoy the ridgeline for the whole of the remainder of the day - about 4 hours of non stop views like this!

Thumbs up indeed...

 But just when you think you're truly in the middle of nowhere, you find that the Conservation team have used a chopper to install a long drop at the top.

A poo with a voo

 So we didn't stop there for lunch...

Two happy trampers!

 The more we walked, the better the views got. All of us were glad there was low cloud - it made it all the more special.

A bit Lost World-esque

 With frequent pauses by everyone to enjoy the views.

Not quite Lincolnshire

 Although the following photo looks a bit anti-social, we were all enjoying the views so much we forgot to chat sometimes I think!

Frodo.

 I'm not sure I was thinking properly when I climbed up these rocks, but the photo makes it worth it!

On top of the world!

 And that's the photos which took us up to lunchtime - we were a little bit trigger happy!

A bench with a view

 The views gave us the energy to do the side summits for even bigger views.

As Caleb used to say: Appy!

 Although it's one of the most popular walks you can do in NZ, the limited number of beds in the bunkhouses means that you never have to share the trail with many people!

Perfection!

 But every amazing day must come to an end, and finally the ridge evened off as we came to our bunkhouse - which was still pretty high up!

Getting ready for more whisky

 And still the parrots followed us. These Kea are the most intelligent parrot apparently - and have recently closed down a nearby campsite as they kept pulling the tent pegs out. Why? If you pull out the pegs, the people come out. And when the people come out, the food comes out... Clever buggers!

Enjoying the view

 A recurring theme of the trip was taking photos in the style of our nephew, Caleb. He loves a massive grin and a big thumbs up, so we recreated it plenty of times!

Dinner on the last night - dehydrated packets of space meals.
Not great, but not bad!

 As the sun set, Dad and I ventured into the nearby caves where you can follow them easily about 400m into the mountain. Stunning stuff!

I am a mole and I live in a hole

 And from dark caves to the first light of the day:

Picture perfect sunrise

 With the third breakfast in a row of fruity porridge scoffed away, we headed down off the mountains to the Te Anau lake.

Going from tussocky alpine

To lush forests

And ending up at the lake

 What an amazing hike... here's four seriously impressed Copes!

 Our stroll back into Te Anau took us round the lake, through bird reserves and to our booked Motel. Whilst the ladies were showering, Dad and I did a quick beer run with our rucksacks. Yeah we were a bit sore, but it was for a good cause...

Cheers!

 Before heading out for some dinner:

Four very clean plates!

 And waking up in the morning to a fuzzy recollection of the previous evening...

 So that was our Kepler adventure! Mum and Dad then came back to Auckland with us and enjoyed three weeks touring round the North Island before joining us in Taupo for our Ironman challenge, and then heading home to the UK. Thanks for coming out Mum and Dad, it was great having you here again!

Copes on Tour