Routeburn Track

***A note before I talk about our trek - we had a bad internet connection earlier and weren't able to upload pictures. We've now gone back and added pictures to our earlier posts, so check them out. For this post, the pictures come before the paragraph that describes them (blogspot isn't great with text wrapping around pictures).***

We just got back from doing the Routeburn Track (pronounced "root-burn"). It's a legendary hike that Kiwis have been walking since the mid 1800's. It's a 38 km trek over the continental divide of the South Island. It's one of New Zealand's “Great Walks” and is known the world over. We decided to hike this as part of a guided hike with a company called Ultimate Hikes. They provide gear, guides, food and lodges along the walk. It's impossible to describe the hike adequately, but we'll just give a quick summary that will hopefully give you a small taste of what we experienced.

First Day: The Divide to Lake Mackenzie

We started early in Queenstown, and walked to the hike center to catch our 7:00 bus. After a couple of hours on the road, we stopped in Te Anau for tea and scones. We picked up 7 more trekkers who had just finished up the Milford Track, for a total of 21 in our group. We were the youngest in the group, most were in their 50's, and we were the only ones without hiking boots (which wasn't as big a deal as our mates thought it would be). We continued on another hour to the trail head for the Routeburn Track, at a place called The Divide. We hoped that we were prepared for what was to come. The first hour was a gradual climb of about 300 meters of elevation, and then dropped our packs and continued another 150 meters to Key Summit, which is above the tree line at about 919 meters. Fortunately, it was a gorgeous sunny day, and the view in every direction was spectacular. We came down from Key Summit, and continued another 10K of gradual climb to our lodge at Lake Mackenzie. The hike was mostly in temperate rainforest of silver beech, with dozens of varieties of ferns covering the ground, and mosses covering the trees, and hanging from the limbs. It had the effect of feeling like an enchanted forest. I almost expected to see the trees start talking. It was quite interesting to be hiking in a rainforest, and come across a modern lodge. After a much deserved shower, we had a delicious hot dinner prepared by the lodge hosts. We shared a room that night with an Australian couple, and woke up to another beautiful day.

Second Day: Lake Mackenzie to Routeburn Falls.

Day two began with Porridge (yum) and Vegemite (not yum) and we immediately began a steep 400 meter ascent to a spot called ocean peak corner, at about 1250 meters, where on a clear day, you can see the Tasman sea, many miles in the distance. On the way up, we saw a New Zealand Wood Pigeon, which is about twice the size of a Rock Pigeon, with a green head and white belly. Unfortunately, cloud cover obscured our view. From there we sidled along the Hollyford face, and past a spot where the previous day, a woman had fallen off the track, and was helicopter-lifted out. There were also several sections with avalanche warning signs, and evidence of a recent rock slide. Around lunchtime, we arrived at Harris Saddle, the continental divide, and our highest point on the hike. The elevation there is about 1300 meters. The ground was snow covered here. The trail just past the saddle was covered in deep snow, with a high avalanche risk, so we had to be ferried past that section in a helicopter, 6 at a time. The trip took about 30 seconds, but was thrilling nonetheless. Some of our Aussie friends, less familiar with snow, decided to make snow angels, but we passed on the opportunity, figuring we'd have plenty of that when we get home. From there, the track descended 200 meters to Routeburn falls, which is where our next lodge was. This point was right at the tree line. The lodge was brand new, only open for 2 weeks, and all the building supplies were helicoptered in. Another delicious meal, and a nice evening getting to know our trekmates. Dessert was pancakes, which were delivered to us by the guides flipping them through the air, where we had to catch them on a plate. This night, we shared a room with a Japanese couple, on their 25th Anniversary trip. They only spoke a little English.

Third Day: Routeburn Falls to the Routeburn Road End.

We woke to a gentle rain, had more porridge plus baked beans, and headed out for our last day. The day's hike was mostly downhill, pretty gradual and gentle. We crossed a number of suspension bridges, and saw our favorite waterfall for the trip, which is saying a lot, since we saw hundreds of others throughout the course of the trek (several of which we drank straight from). We got to the bottom, walked out, and hopped on a bus back to Queenstown. Overall, we had an amazing time, the views were indescribable, and we sustained only sore muscles, no major injuries, and nobody fell off the mountain.