Tuesday - Fiordland National Park

The day we went kayaking, we had thought that having to meet a bus at 7 a.m. was brutal, but this morning we left our room at 6:00, deposited our luggage (containing everything that we would not need on the Routeburn Track) with the hotel porter, shouldered our backpacks, and headed down the hill into the dark.

Dawn on Lake Wakatipu

Our first stop was at the bakery, where we bought a couple of muffins to eat on the bus. We must have chosen either the best bakery in Queenstown or the only one that opens at 6:00 a.m., because one of our guides was there picking up the lunches our group would eat later. By 6:30, fifteen trampers and four guides had boarded a bus at the Ultimate Hikes center to begin our two-and-a-half-hour journey to the Routeburn. Even though the trailhead is only fifty kilometers from Queenstown as the crow flies, the bus requires a long detour around Lake Wakatipu and some big, rugged mountains. As we drove south along the lakeshore, the sun began to rise over the Remarkables to the east, giving us a glimpse of the type of scenery we could expect as we hiked through the Ailsa and Humboldt Mountains farther west.

Farmland between Queenstown and Te Anau

For a while we drove through pasture land, but the mountains were always in sight. The terrain reminded us of southeastern Idaho—even down to the irrigation pipes. Here, however, the sprinklers were not watering potatoes, but nourishing fields of swedes and keeping the grass green for the sake of the livestock.

The bus made one stop in Te Anau for morning tea and to pick up twenty more people. These intrepid souls had just spent four days on the Milford Track—another of New Zealand’s “Great Walks”--and now were joining us for the Routeburn. (We were pretty sure that by the end of our trip, we would not regret having skipped the opportunity to do both tramps back-to-back.)

Because we would be spending a lot of time together over the next three days, before everyone got on the bus the guides asked the group to form a circle and introduce ourselves. We were to state our names and where we were from, and then describe our favorite childhood “soft toy”--which made some of the introductions rather amusing. However, half the group were Japanese with only enough halting English to say, "My name is ____; I am from ____"; so if any of them said anything about their favorite stuffed Totoro or Hello Kiity, we didn’t understand it. (One of our guides is native Japanese; he translated all the other guides’ instructions for his compatriots, but didn’t interpret any Japanese comments into English for the rest of us.) 

Shelter at Routeburn Track trailhead

After another 45 minutes up a winding, narrow road, we arrived at the Routeburn trailhead on the Divide. A light rain had begun to fall, so as soon as we had pulled our packs from the bus’s cargo holds, we crowded under the shelter and put on our raincoats. When we had picked up our sack lunches, refilled our water bottles, and taken advantage of the chemical toilets, we were ready to hit the trail.

EDITORIAL NOTE:

Rather than describe every step of the tramp in our blog posts, we will simply cover each day’s highlights. But in order to share with you the intensity of the experience, at the end of each post, we will provide a link to a photo album that focuses on one particular component of the entire tramp, e.g. flora, fauna, vistas, water, and the trail. We invite you to look at the photos in each themed album and appreciate the beauty and variety of this glorious part of the earth.

BOOTS ON THE GROUND

Start of the trail

Rules of the road

Eager as we were to start walking, we had to review the rules of the road first. The Kiwis take conservation very seriously, and were we expected to do the same. The guides also explained that we didn’t have to worry about staying together as a group, but were free to walk at our own pace, stop for photos, or even take a dip in a lake if we felt so inclined. One guide would stay in the lead and one would sweep up the rear to make sure no one got lost. By the time we actually got on our way, it was close to 11:30 a.m.

Nancy the turtle

Since the one-size-fits-all raincoats were big even for Michael, Nancy was able to put hers on over her backpack. One of the guides said she looked like a turtle.

Spider web in a hollow tree trunk

Although insect repellant is on the gear list supplied by nearly all of our New Zealand outfitters, we have not encountered many bugs in our travels throughout the country. We were surprised to discover that DeEtte and Art’s apartment in Auckland had no window screens, and we have found that to be typical of every room we’ve stayed in. We also noticed that even after several days of driving, DeEtte’s car had only five or six smashed bugs on its windshield. Biting sand flies are more common than mosquitos, but they seem to be confined to lake- and seashores and haven’t bothered us too much. We surmise that the paucity of insects is due to an abundance of birds and huge spiders, such as the one that spun her magic in this hollow tree.

Lake Howden Hut

At about 1:30, we reached the Lake Howden Hut and stopped for lunch. We shared a picnic table with a young couple from Denver who were tramping the Routeburn on their own, carrying all their own supplies and staying along the way in huts managed by the New Zealand Department of Conservation. (Ultimate Hikes maintains its own facilities in the same areas; they have more amenities, so we don’t have to carry any food except a lunch for each day, and no bedding except the sleeping bag liner.)

Nancy's delight seeing Earland Falls

The rain had stopped around lunchtime, so we folded our raincoats and stuffed them in our packs—until an hour or so later, when Logan, the guide who had been walking with us, suggested that we put them back on because we were approaching a waterfall. We had already passed several sizeable falls without getting wet, but figured we probably should take his advice. We really knew this must not be an ordinary waterfall when Logan asked, “Would you mind if I took your camera and went on ahead so I can be ready to take a picture of you as soon as you get to the falls? I’ve always wanted to get a shot of that moment, and I think it would work really well with you two."

Nancy and Earland Falls

Michael and Nancy's surprise on seeing Earland Falls

So Logan took our camera and captured the surprise and wonder on our faces when we rounded the corner and saw Earland Falls for the first time. (He had positioned himself within some dense shrubbery to help protect the camera from getting wet.) Wow. The water drops 174 meters right next to the trail and then tumbles under the footbridge, with enough power that the spray alone could knock you down. Needless to say, we got drenched—thank heaven for the raincoats! We didn’t attempt to take a photo of the falls from that vantage point, but even the one we took from a distance will give you an idea of how magnificent they are.

Having decided that we were not in a hurry—especially later in the afternoon, when the track got steep and rocky and required a lot of careful foot placement—we spent much of our time in the company of the sweep guide. This had its advantages, because the guides are not only friendly and patient, but they know a lot about the flora, fauna, and geology of the area. We’ve received a lot of interesting tutorials along the way.

Lake Mackenzie Lodge

Dormitory hallway

It was about 6:00 p.m. when we caught sight of the Lake Mackenzie Lodge, our stopping point for the night. The lodge manager greeted us with juice, fresh fruit slices, and some delicious fudge. After a very brief respite, we were shown to our rooms.

Shower stall

This is the type of place you want to see after a long day on the trail. The lodge is about five years old, well maintained and very clean. By the time we registered for this trip last November, all the double-bed en suite accommodations had already been reserved, so we were assigned to a "bunk room” that turned out to be more like a fairly large dorm room with four cots. Each futon-style mattress is covered with a clean sheet and a nice comforter. We share common bathrooms with about ten other people, but men and women have separate facilities. Tomoe, the organizer of the Japanese group, is our only roommate.

Michael and Nancy's bunk room

Boot rack

Pole rack

But before we could enter the lodge, we had to remove our boots and leave them on an outside rack along with our hiking poles. When Nancy began taking hers off, Michael was alarmed to see that both her legs were swollen and blotchy red right above the ankles. Nancy agreed that they looked pretty bad, but they didn't itch and they didn't hurt. She thought the irritation probably had been caused by a combination of heat and tight elastic at the top of her socks. 

Drying room

Wash room

The Ultimate Hikes gear list had explicitly stated that we should bring two sets of clothes and shoes: one for hiking and one for the lodge, because no dirty clothing is allowed in the dining room. To minimize weight in our backpacks, we were advised to bring only one set of each, preferably made of lightweight, quick-drying materials (no jeans or all-cotton shirts). Big sinks and bars of safe-for-the-environment laundry soap have been provided so we don’t have to wear muddy pants and stinky shirts tomorrow. In addition to soap and water, there is a mechanical wringer and a heated drying room, essentially a big sauna with rows of wooden racks. It works so effectively that even the heavy wool socks we washed right after dinner were dry by bedtime.

Dining hall

As you can imagine, it felt wonderful to take a hot shower and change into clean clothes. However, we did not have much time to relax before dinner, which was served promptly at 7:00. We started with an entrée of chilled salmon salad, followed by sautéed chicken breasts with potatoes and broccoli. In this part of the world, a green salad is served after the “main.” For dessert, we had individual pavlovas with fresh fruit and whipped cream.

Our dinner group: Nancy, Robert, Bethany, Jeffrey, Anne, and Les

Our dining companions included Robert, a professor of astronomy at the University of New Mexico; Bethany, an OB-GYN serving a rural area in southern Colorado; and Jeffrey, a computer science professor at the University of Southern California. Known as “Team Doctor,” these three had met about twenty years ago as students at Texas A&M and had kept in touch over the years, often going on adventures such as this one together. Les and Anne, a couple from Cairns, Australia, were closer to our age. Les had grown up working on his father’s fishing boat, eventually taking on the business himself, but now had given that up for a somewhat less strenuous career as an electrician. Anne had raised three children and undoubtedly had washed a lot of really smelly clothes for the fishermen in her family. Les and Anne were part of the group that had just tramped the Milford Track; Anne's feet were so covered with moleskin and bandages it was a wonder she could get her boots on, let alone continue hiking.

Lounge

After dinner, the guides conducted a meeting in the adjacent lounge to review tomorrow’s schedule and describe the terrain we would be encountering. They also warned us to bring our boots inside during the night so they wouldn’t run the risk of being shredded by keas. At first, we thought they were kidding—like telling Tenderfoot Scouts to watch out for snipe—until other trampers started sharing stories about their own encounters with the mischievous alpine parrots. Apparently, these big green birds have the same level of intelligence and the same capacity for mayhem as a four-year-old human. Someone described the way a kea had managed to unzip her backpack and make off with her lunch on a previous tramp; another told about keas pulling all the rubber weatherstripping off the windows of their car. (We decided that we’d better clean off our boots and bring them inside before we went to bed.)

Though the schedule called for a literal lights-out at 10 p.m. when the generator was shut off, we were happy to turn off our light and get into bed at 9:30. Tomoe didn’t seem to mind turning in early, either.

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Click here to view a photo album of some of the glorious vistas along the Routeburn Track.

Click here to view a photo album featuring some of the distinctive flora along the Routeburn Track.