Fiordland weekend

Another New Zealand weekend filled with diverse beautiful landscapes and the full spectrum of weather!  Ryan and I spent 4 days in Fiordland, as a get away before the beginning of finals period and to celebrate two and a half wonderful years together.  We started Friday morning by picking up our rental car and driving the 4 hours to Te Anau, where we started with one night on the Kepler Track, one of New Zealand's great walks.  Unfortunately, the unpredictable weather this time of year made it impossible to do all of either the Kepler or Routeburn tracks (both great walks) due to avalanche dangers in the passes.  So we decided to do one night on the Kepler, and two on the Routeburn to get a taste of both!  Our first night in the Kepler made it clear why the pass was not a good idea without alpine experience - even this far into spring snow is still common at those altitudes! 

Ryan with Luxmore hut in the background, before hiking out the second day

Starting from the carpark on the way in, it was drizzling a bit a generally overcast.  But as we got further up, the rain started to turn to sleet then snow and then even started sticking!  When we got above the tree line the wind was really pounding the snow against our faces and it was getting a bit too cold for comfort, but luckily it was only another half hour to the hut.  DOC times estimated the hike at 6 hours, but according to the sign "times may be half for fit trampers in good weather".  We arrived at the hut after 3 hours 30 minutes -- we certainly didn't have the good weather but apparently we're decently fit!  We had a really enjoyable (though cold) night at that hut, and went to explore the nearby Luxmore caves the next morning before heading back down.  Luckily it had stopped snowing, but unfortunately it was still too cloudy to enjoy any of the apparently spectacular views resulting from the 1000m vertical elevation gain.  Also, the weather also made it quite hard to take photos, so I unfortunately don't have many other than the two above.

After a 3 hour hike out, we drove 1 hour to the carpark for the Routeburn track.  The normal track to the first hut was closed due to land slides, but fortunately there was another track, called Pass Creek, which could still get us there.  We quickly discovered though how different this track was from the normal great walk tracks!  While the Kepler track had impressively maintained, large, wide tracks with fairly gentle (though continual) climbs, Pass Creek was quite rough, requiring clambering over roots and under trees and sometimes the track was in fact more of a creek than a trail.  While it was definitely more of a work out, I much preferred this type of track, as it was way more interesting and quite a bit of a work out.  

Howden Hut on the Routeburn

The next morning, we got up to a beautiful clear day (finally!) and had just a couple of handfuls of granola before heading up to the Key Summit loop near the hut.  Just a short climb gave incredibly rewarding views through the valley and of surrounding mountain ranges.  Gorgeous in the early morning sun!

Early morning sun from the hut

Boardwalk at top of key summit - snow again!  But this time, with sun :)

Shameless self-timered photos at Key Summit

The beech tress in the alpine areas (like the ones behind me) are hundreds of years old but their growth is significantly stunted the harsh conditions

After a real breakfast of oatmeal back at the hut, we set out on another day hike along the Routeburn track to Lake Mackenzie/Mackenzie Hut.  The whole track was incredibly stunning - it was so obvious why this is a great walk, and named by many one of the best walks in the world.  Despite the fact that we couldn't due the whole track, there were so many beautiful sites and outlooks.  I think the highlight for both Ryan and I was Earland Falls.  Because it had been decently cold the night before, all of the vegetation and rock surrounding the waterfall was covered in a layer of ice, making everything sparkle.  Coming around the corner into view of the falls, it truly felt like entering a magical land.  So awe-inspiring!  And we were really glad to have made it to the falls early enough in the morning to have been able to enjoy it still in its icy glory, since by the time we hiked back down all of the ice had melted off in the sun.  Still incredible, but not quite as breath-taking.  Early bird gets the worm, right?

Icy Earland Falls!!

Views up the Hollyford Valley

Lunch break at Lake Mackenzie

After hiking back down to spend out second night at Howden, we finally took some time to just relax at the hut and celebrate with a fancy dinner and some wine.  It's funny how a little white wine and vegetable quinoa feels so much more classy and deserved after a long day of tramping.

Quinoa w/ sweet potato hummus, avocado, onion....mmmm...

We woke up early the next day to hike out and drive to Milford Sound to do a cruise, as we had planned.  Unfortunately, we discovered that the road to Milford Sound was still closed due to landslides and avalanches!  It was definitely a disappointment, as Milford Sound is one of New Zealand's most renowned attractions and something I had wanted to see since I first decided I was coming here, but we rolled with it and decided to take advantage of the day instead to do more sightseeing in the Fiordlands, and then drive to the Catlins on the east coast, south of Dunedin.

Pushy Kea in the carpark.  Now I know why there are so many signs that say 'Don't feed the keas'!

Casual drive through Fiordland...

Mirror lakes, a little ripply when we were there

Ryan didn't want to take jump photos with me :(

Classic view out the window while driving: so many sheep!

Lighthouse in the Catlins

One of the world's oldest fossilized forests

Purakanui Falls

This one's for you, Dad, as you requested

Nugget Point Lighthouse.  Such an exhilarating walk!

From Nugget Point

I can't say I'm not disappointed that I won't get to see Milford Sound, but what's a trip with a few things going wrong, right?  New Zealand never ceases to surprise me, and this trip was no exception.  So many beautiful sights and moments - I'm really starting to fall in love with this country.  And I couldn't have asked for a more amazing person to share it with :)

This week I will be frantically studying for finals in a couple weeks, in between preparations for Stewart Island next week!  Ryan and I are doing a week long trek on the Southern Circuit of Stewart Island, which is known for being ruggedly beautiful (as well as very muddy).  I can't wait, and I hope you'll check back for a blog post about that in a little more than a week!